Johto: Twists and Turns at Every Corner
by peekodemeeko12
Summary: The Pokemon regions are in panic. Team Galatic and Team Rocket are at each other's throats and in the midst of this a reluctant girl is forced out of her home and has no choice but to become a trainer and travel the world with psychos and murderers. How will her down to earth personality fare in the Pokemon world with such bloody company? OC
1. Chapter 1

Be warned, this whole fic will be bloodier and harsher than the candy coated versions of Pokemon today. It will be more like reality with the fun spin of Pokemon, at least for the first few chapters. After that it will be more lighthearted and fun :3. You have been warned and enjoy the frantic fun, chickadees.

Oh, and if you don't like heavy drama stuff you can skip to the 2nd chapter where it gets more light hearted. This first chapter is to show where she comes from and why she acts the way she does. Basically the why as to why she is out on an adventure :3

And I apologize for all the lines as time skips but Fanfic is acting up on me -_-"

* * *

"Ha! What makes you think you will inherit a d*** thing, you loose woman? You only married into the family!" My uncle Neil harshly criticizes my mother. Her eyes flashed with indignant anger as I sit straight in my chair, refusing to meet the eyes of any of my relatives; or at least my uncle who barely managed to stumble in here after visiting the bar and my mother from her most recent ... uh, friend.

"To hell with you! Who was the one who took care of that old woman while you were out drinking yourself out of house and home?" My mother venomously spat back, looking like she was about to call out her Arbok and poison the man right here and now.

"You hardly paid a d*** cent! You only threw her into a nursing home!" Uncle Neil vehemently argued, his eyes uncoordinated to the room around him as he grasped the wall to keep himself balanced. I slouch a little in the stiff and worn out chair, tired of their childish ranting but unable to say anything to make them stop.

After all her grandmother was now dead. Found in the woods with a ring of flowers all around her and her Pokemon belt lying across her chest. There was no diagnosis about her death, only the guess it must have been old age that finally bit her. And she seemed so sharp and aware of everything around her up until she passed away ... I set my head in my hands, holding back the tears of frustration before looking back up to the man who was supposed to read out my grandmother's will. None of us was aware that she even had a will. We assumed everything would go to my father but since he passed in a work related accident she had to go back and change it.

"I'm glad you are all here. Now if you'll excuse me, I shall now read here what is on the will," the pudgy, bald headed man announced to the bickering two as I sit in muffled silence. No, no I can't cry now. If I do it will only make things worse.

"Yes, read it and prove to this hideous man that _I_ am the rightful heir to everything she owns. After all, I'm the one who financed for her to be in that nursing home in the first place," my mother snapped, her long billowing red hair draping over a revealing shoulder.

"To hell with ya and your ideas! I'm her only other son for Arceus sake!" Uncle Neil growled.

"Enough. I have only ten minutes to read this will before my next appointment and as I am very sorry for your loss," he says, looking to me when he said so as to direct who he meant that statement towards, "you are acting like spoiled children! Now sit so that I may read it," he orders, watching as they both sit down with narrowed eyes.

"Watch your tongue you Rattata. You're looking at the woman who will be inheriting all of that old woman's wealth," my mother proudly hisses, casting a sharp glare at uncle Neil. Before he can retort a loud thud makes us all jump, seeing the wooden chest that the will reader carelessly dropped on the desk to get our attention.

"If you are reading this now it means that I have passed away. Everything that was once mine is now gone and all that remains is what here lies in the wooden chest made from the trees in Viridian forest," the starts in a loud and firm voice, making sure to have everyone's attention in the room. I carefully listen and stare at the chest with longing eyes. Grandmother's house was the only sanctuary for me from my hellish mother and dead beat of an uncle. She was so nice whenever I came over and never complained about how stupid my duel colored hair was with my natural red bangs and ebony black hair. She never thought my left blind eye was a handicap nor hideously ugly. Rather, she found them beautiful and never insulted me. She was so kind ... grandma, why did you have to leave me?

"And furthermore," he continues with a harsh cough, catching my wandering attention, "seeing that I own nothing more than what is in the bank and in this box, I confer all that I have ever owned and my very title to my only granddaughter, Jackie Penski," he finished, looking up to meet our eyes.

... wait, what?

"WHAT?!" Both my mother and uncle shouted as they leapt out of their chairs, immediately giving the man fierce backlash for what was written on the paper.

"What else is there? There has to be more!" My mother frantically shouts, ripping the paper from the man's startled hands and quickly looks over the paragraph. "How can this be?! That ungrateful wretch!" My mother irately shouts, as uncle Neil swipes it from my mother's nimble fingers and looks it over himself with quieter rage. Well, quieter rage or he hasn't quite figured it out yet in his hammered state.

"Hey, are you serious that everything she owned is ... mine?" I ask, shocked. Good hell I am barely 17 and now I have everything that my grandmother owns? Her land ... was sold before she died and she put all that money into her accounts from what I understand.

Everything that's she's owned ... is now mine?

* * *

"I can't believe that intolerable hag! How _dare_ she leave me with nothing! And there isn't a thing in that d*** box either. Just a letter and a key to hell knows where!" My mother angrily rants as she punches the gas a little too hard and jerks me back in the seat. I stay silent through her horrid driving, staring out the window and at the bustling sidewalks. Everything that she once owned ... is now mine. That's just too much to take in. I thought for sure she would give something to my uncle and maybe a little bit of petty money to my mother.

My eyes fall to a short dark figure weaving through the crowds of people. A Pokemon? I carefully look at its single long red ear and fiery red tail. That's a ... Sneasel, right? I watch as it slips it's claws into an ignorant man's back pocket, pulling out some petty cash and slipping it into the dirty nap sack on its side. A glimmer of gold on its ear catches my eye. Oh boy, it's begun. Team Rocket or whatever those posers call themselves are back in town. Everyone from the not so nice side of town knows not to really mess with them though the majority are really weak. But having a Pokemon openly steal like this? That's just plain gutsy.

The Sneasel's bright blue eyes locks on with mine as it freezes, realizing it's been caught. Oh forget it, that man should have been keeping a better eye on his money anyway. My gaze remain stuck on the frozen Sneasel until my mother guns the gas, startling me and some pedestrians before she speeds off towards our apartment. She's gotten quiet all of a sudden ... I wonder what she is thinking?

* * *

"UGH!" I shout, stumbling back and crashing hard into the wooden kitchen table. I clutch my blind eye and glare at my mother as she wobbles on her feet, taking another disgusting swig from the bottle of vodka in her hand and dirtied rings on her other's fingers.

"Now look what you've done, you brat! You've ruined my beautiful rings! Look at me, aren't they pretty?!" She shouts before stumbling forward and catching the counter, tears streaming down her face. She slouched against the counter and slides to the floor before hysterically crying, covering her tears with her dainty hands. I hate it when she drinks ... she only gets mean when she drinks. I wipe the blood off my lip and get up, feeling bruising pain radiating from my waist and eye. That's going to leave bruises for sure.

"Hey, mom, let's take your medicine and go to bed alright?" I suggest. The doctor gave her medicine to help with her ... condition but I don't think it's working.

"Medicine? What medicine? There is nothing wrong with me!" She angrily shouts, leaping up from the floor. Uh oh.

"Hey, hey calm down-!" I cry as her hand whipped forward and grabbed my hair, yanking me into the hall. "OUCH! Mom, get off that hurts!" I shout, not wanting to hurt her by shoving her off. My feet stumble left and right as she drags me to the door and slams me against it.

"Shut up, shut up! I'm perfect! There's nothing wrong with me!" She screams as she weakly pounds her fists against my shoulders. My arm luckily maneuvers to the handle and throws the door open. I can't take it anymore. I need to get the hell out of here. I've tried to help her but it's not working. I ... I need to leave. Now. I shoot down the cement stairs and stumble to a stop at the bottom, breathing hard as I look up to her. My mother's eyes grow wild and crazy as she whips around back into the house. Oh no what is she doing? I listen to the banging and clanging around inside the house, nearly having a heart attack as she runs at the front door with the large wooden box in arms. Good mother of hell-!

"WHOA!" I shout, torn between catching the areal projectile or dodging it. My arms shoot out at the thought about my grandmother and catch the clunky and amazingly heavy chest, listening to the key rumble about inside of it. I stumble back with the weight and trip over the drop in the curb, heaving as the heavy chest landed on my lungs. Why the hell is this so heavy?!

"GET OUT! Get out and _never_ come back! You wretch for a child! You, you wr-e-etch-!" She hysterically wails, slamming the door shut. I achingly sit up, coughing hard for a few minutes before getting my bearings.

Well, that's one way to get kicked out of a house I guess. And tomorrow she'll be calling me sobbing for me to come back and apologizing for what happened with all her excuses. But, a mother is a mother and she's my mother. My lungs ache as I wobble to my feet and think about where I can go for the night since home is clearly not an option. I guess my only option is to go find a nice and cozy park bench in the park. Yeah, that could work for the night. The chest weighs heavy on my shoulder as I carefully balance it in place and begin walking. The sooner I get there the better.

My eyes mindlessly scan the streets spotted with people I don't want to meet here and there. Gangs, gangs and oh! ... more gangs. Lovely. Though I'm positive most belong to Team Rocket here. As long as I don't encounter them they won't mess with me.

A strangled, meek cry catches my attention from the nearby alley. I reluctantly glance over, spying the black, clawed foot of a Pokemon lying behind the dumpster. Awe ... someone abandoned a Pokemon here again? I have no idea why but this neighborhood seems to be the optimal dumping spot for Pokemon that are 'too weak' for other people to deal with. I hesitate to press onward, frozen as it's foot twitches. It's still alive. Well ... I might as well see what it is.

I shuffle the heavy chest more comfortably on my shoulder, walking around the dumpster to find a roughed up Sneasel lying on the ground with a large scratch across it's left eye. Ouch ... something sure did a number on it. A noticeable ragged cut was left in its ear, probably from an earring being ripped out. That earring ... and that knapsack look familiar. I pick up the small bag and flip the top open, staring at the cash inside of it. This is the same Sneasel I saw earlier stealing people's wallets and such. I guess he didn't steal enough or he got caught?

I'll bet it was a Team Rocket Pokemon and after he or she got better Pokemon they decided to leave this one here to ... well, yeah. It's chest weakly rises and falls as I weigh my options. I could leave it here and let fate take hold or take it to a Pokecenter. There's one not too far from here.

... well it's not like I have anything better to do.

* * *

"It was horribly injured. No wonder people don't train Pokemon anymore. If you are this rough with it you hardly deserve Pokemon!" The woman harshly and rightfully reprimands, "I would be slapping the stupid right out of someone if they brought me a Pokemon this close to death!"

"Look, I found it like that." I answer, annoyed at her accusations.

"Yes, right just like everyone else am I right?" She snaps back, stiffly folding her arms together as she glares at me. Ugh ... this is what I hate about people who are so crazy about Pokemon. They bark and bark when they find one that's so injured but it's not like it will change anything. Yeah I wouldn't purposefully hurt a Pokemon but neither would I want to take one in and care for it. I'm just ... not that caring type. It doesn't suit me and it would only hurt when the Pokemon's all grown up and decides to leave.

"Anyway, here's the bill. Will that be cash or credit?" She roughly asks, dropping a stack of paperwork in my lap.

"What?!" I shout, startled. She expects me to pay up?! Like hell! I don't have the money for it! A-And since I don't know my grandmother's account I'm literally flat broke.

"You brought him in here and now you pay for him," she stubbornly orders as she folds her arms and expectantly stares at me.

"But I just brought it in! Why the hell do I have to pay for it?!" I shout, jumping up and feeling a weight drop off my lap. I cast the object a quick glance, spying the knapsack the Sneasel had.

"It's _because_ you brought him in you need to pay!" She orders with a growl, "here in the city you _pay_ for pokecenters," she harshly explains as she folds her arms. Oh that's bull and she knows it. I'll bet they need to pay off Team Rocket to keep them from coming in and taking over or wrecking the place.

"Fine. Will this be enough?" I growl, slipping all the bills out from the little knapsack and handing it to the woman. Her beady eyes carefully flip through the bills as she counts it.

" ... barely." She admits, pocketing the money and turning away. Tch, prude ... whatever, at least there's enough for it. I heavily sigh and run a hand over my tired eyes. Just five minutes ... I need to just close my eyes for like five minutes. It's been such a long day holding in my tears and dealing with the drama at the funeral. A tired sigh leaves my lips as my head cranes back, my arm tightening around the box.

Just as I felt the resting relaxation in my limbs a faint tugging draws me out of my trance. My eyes crack open, squinting as the morning sun shines bright into my eyes. Ugh ... that's bright. My fingers tighten over the hard wooden box as I sleepily sit up, seeing the woman who practically stole from me flitting about the room and cleaning up a bit. Did I fall asleep?

"Ah crap," I groan, rubbing my eyes as I sit up and look at the chest. There was a key inside it but for what? I unlatch the chest and take the silver key and letter out. I gently open the letter and take the paper out, deciding reading would help take my mind off of everything that's happened.

_Oh Jackie, I am so pleased to know that mine adventures continue with you. Though you will have my beloved Pokemon team with you at all times, whether you like it or not, I want you to gather your own team and follow in the footsteps of a grand trainer. My Pokemon know what to do and will listen to you once they get over the grief of my passing. I love you, and will forever watch over you through mine own Pokemon. The key will unlock ... and there you will find ..._

I blink, reading it over a couple times. Those smudges are impossible to read. What does it-

Wait, wait there were no Pokemon that were mentioned in the will. Holy crap ... wait, wait where the hell are they? If she left them somewhere wouldn't it say it? No better yet why the hell would she leave _me_ with her Pokemon? I don't want them! I can't care for Pokemon, good hell I can hardly care for myself now that I've been kicked out of the house.

"Ah, hello there nurse! Need any help today?" A familiar voice offers as my head whips around, spying the elderly man who was at the funeral with his trusty Tauros by his side. Whoa ... he really does bring that thing everywhere.

"Yes, I need you to peel that dead weight out of the waiting room. She's been here all through the night waiting for the Sneasel to recover," the woman irritably huffs, frantically sweeping the floor.

"Ah yes I suppose I can do that," he chuckles in a raspy tone, looking my way with a wrinkled smile before eyes widening in surprise.

"Oh, Jackie? Don't tell me you're the dead weight," he asks with a light laugh as he slowly walks over to me, glancing over to the box with interest, "ah ... I had a feeling Eiting would give you the chest," he says with a fond smile, setting his hand on the framework.

"You know about the chest?" I ask, surprised as I stand up to properly greet him.

"Of course. I made it for the young lass," he grins, "and I know what's in it too. She told me to come find you and tell you that but you slipped away from the funeral so quickly I didn't have a chance to tell you. I suppose it's fate that's brought you now," he cheerfully says as he achingly laughs with a faint whistle in his gapped teeth.

"Well, could you show me? And do you know where her Pokemon are?" I ask, eager to find their location. I'm in charge of them so I need to take care of them. I remember all of them working around the house and playing with me when I was little.

"They are still mourning. I highly doubt any of them will willingly come out of their balls anytime soon so patience should be spent in caring for them," he says with a sad smile, "now, come with me to my home. She entrusted me with some things that you will need for your journey." He widely smiles before slowly making his way to the entrance.

" ... wait, journey?" I ask, making sure I heard him right as I follow after him.

"Yes. You are out of that witch's grasp, yes? I know your grandmother's account information and can transfer that into a separate account so you and only you can access it when needed," he explains as he shakily clutches Tauros's side to help give him some needed balance.

Well, enough said then.

I start out the door but the woman's hand grabs my arm.

"Where do you think you're going? Abandoning your Sneasel already?" She harshly demands, looking a little hurt and panicked.

"Abandon? It wasn't mine in the first place. I found it hurt and brought it here," I correct. Oh please oh please don't dump that Sneasel on me. It's just going to run off back to its old trainer when it's all better and I know I will get attached to it so why bother getting attached in the first place?

"Oh ho~ you already caught yourself a Sneasel? Already a fine trainer indeed! Eiting was right in giving you all she owns," the elderly man raspingly laughs as he looks to the nurse. "Then we shall stay here until it is ready to leave. Well, actually, I will stay. Jackie will be leaving on the SS Aqua to Johto tomorrow morning," he says.

" ... Johto? The uh, the hick country?" She repeats, shocked at his announcement.

"Yes. There, trainers are more plentiful than this country. Once your Sneasel is healed up nice I will come to Johto and return him to you,"

"But I ... Johto?" I repeat, sounding exasperated, "but, why? I've hardly left this city and now I need to go travel a freaking country?" I breathe, feeling a small panic attack coming on, "I-I don't know how to do any of that! I'm an engineer not a-a freaking bus!" I irrationally cry, grasping my head as I try to calm myself down.

"You will be just fine. You have more brain than that son of hers and that of your - oh dear, I shouldn't say that now should I?" He chuckles with a defined whistling tune.

"But I ... oh man," I groan in near defeat. This city ... I know I need to leave. If I don't I'll just get sucked right back into it along with my mother. I'll return to her having to care for her and ... crap.

"You know I'm right dear," he chuckles, enjoying the fact my life is shattering into pieces. "Oh that's right, the matter with the chest." He said, walking over to the chest with the key in hand. My eyes widen slightly as I slap my hand against my hip, feeling the key gone. How in the hell did he-?! The lower compartment of the chest pops open a few seconds later, revealing a bag that was squished into the bottom.

"How the ... ?" I trail off, walking over to get a better look at the contents. What is this? It's just ... an old dusty bag?

"Here we are~!" He sings, picking up the bag and setting it aside before reaching in and taking out an old school Pokemon belt with what looks like mini bombs attached to it.

"Uh ... are those bombs?" I hesitantly asked, taking a slight step back in apprehension. Good hell I was carrying a loaded chest?! There on the belt was six large silver spheres with a red knob on the top.

"Oh don't be silly lass. These are Pokeballs from _my_ day and age. You open it by twisting the top to release the Pokemon, not push a button like everything these days. Ah~ the memories," he longingly breathes, turning to me, "now there are rules young lady about Pokemon and being a trainer and you are going to knowingly break them." He begins to explain as he kneels down on his achy knees, letting out a relieved sigh as he rights himself and unhooks the end of the belt.

"I'm going to break them?" I ask, completely thrown for a loop at whatever the hell he could mean. While I'm not a stickler for the rules I'm not a criminal either.

"No, not just break them. _Knowingly_ break them. There's a difference," he corrects with a rasping laugh, hooking the end to my belt loop and letting it sag lower onto my upper thigh. "Ah, tiny waist and large hips, just like her," he mutters with a small laugh making sure they are properly on before standing up. He flinches downward, his knee starting to give out before I grab his arm and help him to his feet. The woman running the Pokecenter ignores the both of us, remaining tense as she sweeps the ground despite there being no dust.

"I don't think there's a difference. Breaking is breaking,"

"Yes but breaking with cause is key," he corrects, letting me help him up, "bless you dear. Now, as I was saying, you will keep these here on your person at all times, along with the team which you will gather during your travels. She left you some other keepsakes as well," he says, holding up the bag and opening the draw string top, "some money for your travels which are here," he says, showing me a card, "and this will be available once I transfer over the money. Until then, suffice yourself with this," he says, pulling out a thick wad of beautiful hundreds. My jaw drops as he slips it into my cargo pants, continuing on as if he didn't just give me months supply and probably excess on what I will need. Money ... so much money ... and it's _my_ money.

"I-I really think it's too much-," I start though mentally praying he won't take a dollar back after giving it to me. I'm going to need it that's for sure but there's so much ...

"Nonsense dear that's the money she got from selling her land. She only told me to give it to you when your mother wasn't around," he broadly smiles before continuing, "now this here is a Pokedex. It's a little old fashioned compared to the times now but it holds the information of every Pokemon your grandmother has ever encountered with in her travels. Everything else you will get from my grandson over in New Bark town. You will land in Cherry Grove and will get to New Bark from there. And Jackie," he says, making sure he has my attention as he sets a shaky hand on my shoulder. He looks at me with pleading eyes and a sad smile, "don't squander your youth. Go out, travel the world and see for yourself the wonders and joys rather than the pain you've known all your life," he says, making a shiver crawl down my spine from his words. Pain ... I know some joy ... I guess? "Pokemon come in all different shapes and sizes. You will come to love them and not think of them as a burden but that is only if you open up your heart to those around you. I know it will be hard for you and you will suffer, but in that suffering you will find greater joys than you could have ever thought was possible."

"I ... I-I will," I stammer, feeling my confidence completely shattered in the eyes of this man who's experienced more things in his life time than I could possibly imagine. He's giving me so much help ... but why? "Why ... are you helping me? You hardly know me," I say, feeling the emotions from before pricking my heart and brining a tear to my eye. So many swirling emotions ... it's a wonder that I haven't gone zubat crazy.

"Because I had loved your grandmother for so long now and still do. We traveled the world together and I want you to experience those same joys. Alright?" He says with a bright, wrinkly smile.

"Y-Yeah," I agree, taken in by the trust and all the love those words hold. Why couldn't someone like him take care of me while growing up? Or my grandmother? I was always such a troublesome brat ... and now I get the freedom to go frolic around the world. I've practically lost everything and now I'm assuming a new life all within 24 hours.

It's crazy how life throws these twists and turns at me.

* * *

Hey I hoped you liked it! It was a little depressing to write the first chapter but it's all uphill from here. I wanted to put all the drearier stuff and her background in the beginning for you all to understand where she's coming from. An now, with the second chapter, her adventure begins! I'm hoping to get at least**_ 5 REVIEWS _**for this first chapter so I know people are interested in what the story. Happy reading!

**ATTENTION ALL READERS!**

I am in need of help creating characters for this fic. I would like ideas for rivals, random appearances of characters, companions for Jackie to travel with, team rocket grunts with strangely low self esteem, etc the possibilities are endless! PM me or leave the description in the Reviews with a list of their team and their personality and I will be sure to mention your name as the rightful creator at the beginning of each chapter. And if you are a guest leave what name you would like to be referred to as so I can give you credit. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

"So ... New Bark is this way, maybe?" I mutter to myself as I spread the ancient map over the rails, making sure to keep a firm grip on the tattered paper. How old is this map? It has to be as old as my grandma from all the stains and worn down edges. Ok ... so from Cherrygrove all I have to do is go east. Well, that's easy enough.

A light tugging on my pants reminds me of the little pest that snuck on board.

"No, go away," I say, sweeping the Sneasel's hand away. I can't believe this thing snuck on board. It nearly gave me a heart attack when I woke up in the morning and saw it creepily staring at me. Once again the Sneasel tugs on my pants.

"Ugh, what?" I huff, heavily rolling my eyes and glaring over to him. The Sneasel looks me straight in the eyes and holds up it's napsack, showing me that it's empty with a clearly disdained glare aimed at me. "Hey, be happy. That paid for your surgery and you shouldn't even be here," I snap, praying it will go bug someone else for money. The Sneasel's eyes narrow as he promptly sits down, refusing to move its sharp gaze off of me. Oh please, what does a Pokemon even need with money?

"Hey!" A sharp voice barks, catching my attention. I turn around to see what the commotion is, spying a man blatantly wearing a black uniform with a large R on the front. Seriously? Team Rockets wear their outfits out in the open here like that? ... now that's just plain stupid. It's like a beacon for every police officer to come and bag them. I quietly fold up the map and stuff it in my pocket, watching as he confronts a cute young girl with a pink barrette in her hair and a Pichu in her trembling arms. "Watch where you're going, kid."

"I-I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry-!" She says with her voice trembling in fear, her grasp tightening around her baby Pokemon. The man's leering eyes fall down to the Pichu's face before his face brightens up all happy and smiley. He kneels down with a friendly smile, reaching up and gently holding the little girl's chin. Oh now that's scary.

"That's alright, girlie. Sorry for yelling at you like that," he apologizes with exaggerated sweetness, "that wasn't right of me. How about I take you to your parents?"

... good mother of hell this is either a Pokemon theft in process or something much worse.

"_Seriously_?" I breathe out loud, too shocked at his stupidity. It's like he _wants_ to be arrested for crying out loud! "HEY!" I bark, making the man jump slightly as he turns and sees me. I get up and walk over to him, grabbing his shoulder and firmly pushing him back while stepping between him and the little girl.

"Go find a nice sailor to take you to your parents. That one over there will help you," I say to the little girl, pointing out a sailor who was walking around on the deck.

"O-Ok," she obediently says as she trots off to the sailor with a tight grip on her Pichu. The moment she is far enough away my head whips back around to the man with fiery fury and the pits of hell in my eyes.

"You. What the hell is wrong with you going after that little girl's Pichu, huh?" I demand, shoving his shoulder harder and making him give me some room in case he was rearing for a fight. "What are you an idiot? Are you special? What good is Team Rocket going to do with a Pichu like that?" I say, struggling to come up with a reason. Sure, if it was a Raichu or maybe a Pikachu I could understand but why the hell a baby Pokemon? They like to take Pokemon as they are, nice and strong not weak and small.

" 'scuse me? Ms, I was only trying to be a good citizen and help her find her parents," he darkly chuckles, fixing his cap as he eyes up the balls around my waist.

"Don't bother you stupid hick. If you're that open about stealing a Pichu, a _Pichu_, then there's no way you're smart enough to get my Pokemon. Besides, these are empty," I tack on for good measure, tapping the top of one with my nail as though to prove my point.

"Feh. Screw off, little girl. You don't want to mess with me; I'm part of Team Rocket," he openly reminds me, jutting a thumb to the R on his chest.

"Whoever can wear that symbol of ignorance and stupidity better have the balls to back it up. I'm telling you right now that if you meet a trainer stronger than yourself, and they beat you, you'll be running back to your home with your tail between your legs like a Poochyena," I snap at him, "if you're going to steal something at least be smart about it."

"Yeah? Then what about that Sneasel with ya?" He scoffs, turning his eyes towards my legs. I look down, with a faint sneer before rolling my eyes.

"Not mine."

"I know it's not because it's actually _mine_," he darkly laughs before crouching down to get face to face with the growling Sneasel, "so you run off to find a new trainer as soon as I kick you to the curb? That's gutsy of you, considering you're so weak," he spits before looking up at me with a sick grin, "this Sneasel is property of Team Rocket. You have no right to take it."

"You? You were this Sneasel's previous owner?" I scoff, taking note at how Sneasel growled and claws twitched. It looks like Sneasel wants to rip his face off. But then again ... is this the guy that ripped Sneasel's earring out?

"Yeah. Hey, what about a battle? Winner takes the Sneasel." He offers with a mocking grin.

"It's not mine and it never was," I snap back at him. Well this isn't good. A fist fit I can deal with but a fight with Pokemon? I've never been in a Pokemon battle before and I have no idea what this Sneasel can do. No, it's not mine so why would I battle at all?

"Yeah? Then what the hell is it?" He laughs, slipping out a Pokeball. I warily stare at it, wondering what he's planning to do with it.

"Just a stray I guess," I shrug, unnerved by the potential threat in his hand. I really don't want to bother with this. It's none of my business if he wants his Pokemon back but he ... he threw it away in a dumpster. Why would he want it back?

"Then you wouldn't mind me taking him back," he laughs, standing up straight and getting some distance between the two of us. "Go, Raticate!" He grinned tossing the ball in the air. A red jolt shoots from the Pokeball and spills onto the deck, forming a Raticate before solidifying into the Pokemon itself. I flinch as I look into the Raticate's beady eyes. Ugh ... we have so many of those in the city it's ridiculous.

" ... sure, whatever," I heartlessly shrug, feeling compelled to watch the fight to the end.

"Too easy. Raticate, use hyper fang!" The man quickly ordered with a deranged grin dancing over his lips. The Raticate lurches forward and clicks it's teeth together as the Sneasel lunged for him at the same time. Sneasel brandishes its claws as it slips beneath the Raticate's lunge, scratching its tender belly. The Raticate cries out and flips to its feet faster than I thought it could and sunk it's brightly glowing teeth into Sneasel's chest. A-A critical hit! My mouth parts to make him stop but it clamp shut as the Sneasel scratches it's way free, tumbling out of the way and wobbling on its feet. Oh many what bad luck.

"Raticate, use quick attack to finish it off!" The grunt orders with a grin. Raticate turns and prepares to charge at Sneasel as it clutches it's side, seeming not to notice the Raticate.

"Turn around-!" I shout but the Raticate rams into the startled Sneasel, knocking him right into the side of the boat. It flops back and lands hard on the ground, clearly down for the count. Wow that was fast ... definitely one of the fastest fights I've ever seen. I should take it to the Pokecenter here on the boat. My fingers twitch before I fold my arms and squeeze my biceps to prevent me from grabbing the Sneasel. It's his now. I have no right to get in the middle here. Besides, that Sneasel is a member of Team Rocket. I get it. I saw the tear in its ear but I thought they wanted to get rid of it, not take it back.

I glance back, feeling my heart strings tug as he returns the Raticate to its Pokeball. Forget it, it's not worth starting a fight and throwing a fit at the freak. This is how the Pokemon world works. KOing a pokemon and then capturing it. It's not like it was mine to begin with. But no matter how hard I try I stand there and watch over my shoulder, sickened by his sneer towards the Sneasel as he walks over towards the rails. My eyes flash towards the edge of the boat and back to his arm. He wouldn't.

"I should have done this with you in the first place you weakling." He scoffs, rearing his arm back. My eyes widen as my mouth parts with a mortified scream as he throws the fainted Sneasel overboard.

"NO!" I shriek, rushing to his side and shoving him away from the rails, watching the ocean completely swallow the Sneasel up. He just threw it overboard?! Why the hell would he do that?! Good hell he could have just left it alone or not having anything to do with it but he insteads throws it into the ocean?!

The cold splash of water must have woken the Sneasel up as it bursts from the water, pathetically crying out and pawing the water. It's wide, terrified gaze catches mine as if begging for me to save it. I shouldn't. I can't. The second I save it that Sneasel will leave so why bother with it?

"What? It's a pathetic Pokemon that can't even stand up to my Raticate. You want it so badly then-,"

His words pass numbly over my ears as I leap off the edge of the railing, feeling my heart trembling with terror at my irrational decision. Dozens of ocean Pokemon that can easily swallow me whole or rip me to shreds flash through my mind. I'm an idiot, plain and simple as that. But I'm ok with that.

A woman's scream on board hardly catches my attention as I plunge into the freezing water, getting over the initial shock of needles spearing my bare skin as I shoot up to the surface. I cough and sputter as I try to get my baring, seeing the waves from the boat coming at me. Uh oh. The large waves crash against me nearly dragging me deeper into the waters from the strong undertow. My head whips around towards the cries spying the Sneasel struggling to stay above water.

"Oh get over here!" I growl, hustling over towards it. The moment its claws touch my head with wraps its arms my skull and digs its claws into my head. Its body is stiff with fright as it fights to get to the top of my head and completely out of the water, plunging my face into the water in its struggling. I whip my head back, feeling its claws dangerously prickling my skull.

"OUCH! Not so tight!" I shout, grabbing its leg and setting it onto my shoulders so its weight doesn't completely dunk my head under the water again. I heavily breath as my chest tightens from the cold water, looking up to the boat and seeing a whole line of people and crew standing at the edge of the boat and anxiously watching me. Oh great, I've become a spectacle. I heave and swim hard with trembling limbs towards the floatation devices, feeling the cold waters seeping into my clothes and threatening to weight me down. UGH! Why is the ocean so freaking cold?!

Hot blood begins to drip down the sides of my head and into the water from the Sneasel's sharp claws.

"I-I said not so tight," I breathe between my clenched teeth, struggling now to reach the floats which seem to be drifting further and further away. I-I can't swim fast enough. I struggle to kick harder and reach for the floats but each time I come up short with the distance growing larger.

My breath catches in my throat as a beam of red light from the boat catches my attention, forming the shape of a large snake like Pokemon. It's blue scales and large gapping mouth are the things of Nightmares as the monstrous Gyarados plunges into the sea, expelling waves in its wake.

"Oh _hell_ no-!" I let out a short, sharp scream as the wave shoves me under the water, feeling the Sneasel's claws vanish from my head. My heart nearly stops as I reach out and open my eyes in the salty water, feeling the burn almost immediate to the delicate surface under the eyelid. With a sharp kick I push forward with eyes wide open, grabbing the sinking Sneasel's claw before tightly squeezing my eyes. It burns it burns the seawater burns-!

I bulk in fright as a large pillar slides up my side and hooks my hips between another connecting surface. The warm air slaps some life into me as I furiously rub my stinging eyes, hugging the trembling Sneasel close to my chest. That son of a- that stupid Team Rocket idiot member-! When I get my hands on him-! I hardly have time to finish that thought as strong arms yank me off of the Gyarados's crown and onto the deck, trying to lay me down.

"Whoa ... i-it's Lance-!" Voices murmur in the crowd as Sneasel's claws are gently pried off of my shoulders and waist. Lance? Who the hell cares about Lance! It's that Team Rocket member I want. My fingers tightly clutch the sailor's shoulder as I weakly stand on my feet, barely able to take in the blurry images around me.

With the exception of the large printed R on the man's shirt who threw Sneasel overboard. I grapple with the sailor's sleeve as he and someone else hold me up, starting to drag me assumingly to the Medic's office. My glaring eyes never leave the man's shirt with the large R on it. One word, he says one word and I'll lose it.

"Seriously? I can't believe you would jump over the edge for a stupid Sneasel," he scoffs, making the sanity in me snap.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" I scream at the top of my lungs, ripping myself back out of the sailor's supporting arms as I find the strength to physically beat the man to a bloody pulp. He threw him into the ocean he freaking threw Sneasel into that freaking ocean-!

"Ha. You want to Pokemon battle? Fine. I'll wipe the floor with you-," he starts but in my rage there were no people around me. No Pokemon. No nothing. Just me and this Jack who tried to kill that Sneasel I've had to rescue not once but twice. My fist cuts him off from what he was about to say with a hard right hook across the face. People gasp and with appalled faces watch as I land on the man's back and grab his hair, weakly smacking his head against the floorboards.

"NOT ANOTHER WORD! NOT ANOTHER WORD OR I THROW _YOU _OVERBOARD NEXT TIME!" I shriek in my rage, feeling hands grabbing at my shirt and arms to pry me off. I hunch forward and lock his head into a headlock refusing to be torn off of him until I've made my point.

"You're crazy! Get off me you b****!" He shouts, his voice getting more and more raspy, "rip her off! For the love of Arceus _rip her off!_" He shouts, digging his nails into my shoulder. I crane my head around and sink my teeth into his hand, hearing him scream as he writhes underneath from the pain. Finally a pair of arms with unmatched strength wrap around my waist and lift me right off of my prey.

"You ugly b****!" He shouts, igniting the last of my anger for a hard kick across his head

"If you come anywhere near me, at any time, I _will_ make sure you don't walk away from it!" I shout as the burly men drag me back, holding my arms back with grips of steel. The man doesn't answer at all and neither does his blurry figure slowly merging with the boards move as the crowd mutters amongst themselves. I don't bother to listen as I turn and walk with the sailors dragging me off, clutching my eyes with a pained hiss. Ouch ... I will never, _ever_ open my eyes underwater again. That just plain killed.

* * *

I heavily sigh as I sprawl over my bed, staring at the ceiling with my aching eyes. That cleaning my eyes out process was _not_ fun. And, frankly, it hurt like no other. And by now I can feel my black eye moving in from when mother decided not to take her pills and take her rage out on me. No, no ... it's over and done with. I'm out now, free for the rest of the world to chew on me instead. And since my blow up at that Team Rocket guy didn't go over too well with the rest of the crew I'm under room arrest for the rest of the trip. How fun.

A knock at the door catches my attention.

"Come in," I almost sarcastically say, knowing whoever it was would come in anyway. After all, I'm under room arrest. It doesn't matter if I don't want someone coming in or not. The door squeaks open as I listen to a pair of confident boots stride into the room. My head cranes back, seeing a man in his twenties with bright red flaring hair walk into the room. Wow ... and I thought I had outrageous hair. My eyes drift down, spying the Sneasel peering into the room from the doorway, locking it's sight on me.

... it's back why is it back?

"Are you alright? I didn't get a chance to ask before you nearly mauled a man to death," he says with a slight chuckle, though it sounded strained.

"And I don't regret it," I emotionlessly say, sitting up and staring at him as he looks at the old Pokeballs on my waist.

"What are those?" He asks, walking over and sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Who are you?" I shoot back, not really in the mood to be talking to anyone.

"My name is Lance. I'm sure my Gyarados wasn't too rough with you?" He says in a more so assured question than actually asking something. My eyes widen slightly as I look at him with more respect.

"So that was your Gyarados that got me," I state out loud before nodding slightly, "thank you, Lance. I appreciate it."

"No trouble at all. Now, what beef do you have with Team Rocket?" He asks, deciding to go straight to the point.

"Team Rocket? What about them?" I ask as my gaze drifts a little, seeing the Sneasel slinking into the room with bright blue eyes stuck on me. "Not really. Just the one."

"I see ... do you know who they are and what they do?" He asks, also looking to the Sneasel as it crawls up to the bed and stares at me from over the ridge.

"Only that they are a bunch of gangsters who use Pokemon. Why?" I ask as the Sneasel silently hops onto the bed, refusing to leave my gaze it holds completely still.

"Well, that is the basis of what they are yes. But I'm here to ask a favor of you," he says, turning his gaze towards me.

"Yeah?"

"Avoid Team Rocket. The grunts are easy enough to handle but their commanders are no one you want to mess with. I only ask that you don't go looking for trouble seeing that you are a new trainer." He explains as Sneasel crawls over to my side and lays near my side, staring at my pants.

"I'm not a trainer." I correct him, leaning back a little bit and watching as the Sneasel rests it's head on my leg. Whoa, it's heavier than I thought it would be.

"Really? Then what are you?" He asks, sounding a little surprised.

"I have no idea," I say, hesitantly putting my hand on the Sneasel's head and rubbing it's soft fur, "and I have nothing to do with that Rocket grunt or whatever you call him. He threw the Sneasel overboard so I jumped off to get it," I explain, wanting to tell at least one person the truth of what happened.

"So that's what he did ... I was wondering why you attacked him as you did." He says in a wondering tone.

"Yup. And now _I'm _the one under room arrest," I lightly sigh with a fake chuckle, "isn't irony the best?"

"Alright, I understand now. Thank you for your time Ms. Penski. Where are you going after you land on shore?" He asks as if the thought just occurred to him.

"New Bark town to meet my uncle's relatives. Apparently they have some things for me," I say. And oh boy I can't wait to meet them. Maybe they will give me an up to date map or something.

"Well that's convenient, I have business with Professor Elm there. Would you care to travel with me there?" He asks with a friendly smile. I suspiciously stare at him as I continue to pet Sneasel's head, listening to its faint rumbling purrs. Alright what's the catch? But with someone that strong he wouldn't need to steal anything from someone like me.

"Why?" I flatly state, not bothering to hide my suspicious tone. I'm too tired to pretend anything.

"I just thought we could travel together since we have the same destination. But of course, if you don't want to that's perfectly fine too," he says with a shrug, seeming uncaring either way.

"Hm, alright. How well do you know Johto?" I ask. If I have a local show me around a bit or someone who at least knows the area then I'll have a leg up on this adventure of mine.

"You've never been to Johto before?" He asks, sounding surprised.

"Nope. First time," I honestly answer.

"I see then. I know you'll come to love Johto. I'll be by to pry you out of the hands of officers when we land." He says with a chuckle.

"Sounds good," I huff, rubbing my head. Oh fantastic I forgot about the Police.

Well this should be fun.

* * *

Jackie can never catch a break, huh? **_5 REVIEWS_** for the next chapter :3

And I'm still on the hunt for characters that Jackie could run into on her adventures, each of which will be clear of who created them. I like adding a little bit of fans into my writing in a subtle way and this is how I'll do it in the Pokemon fic here. Thanks and happy ready! :D


	3. Chapter 3

"So you're telling me New Bark is this way?" I ask as we head out of that hellish town Cherrygrove and start walking to our destination. Those police sure were a headache. I'm amazed at how fast they let me off with a warning when this Lance guy explained what happened. Just who is this Lance guy? It's bugging me that he's helping me and hasn't asked for anything back. Yet.

"Yes. It's a small town but very pleasant. I go there as often as I can to see Professor Elm there," Lance explains as trees towered over us from either side. The walk should be quick and short. Nothing really terrible or too hot since the shade is over us.

"And who is Professor Elm?"

"Professor Elm is one of the best researchers in the region and I dare say the world. He has led many experiments ... ," and blah blah blah. Yes this is all very interesting but I'm zoning out now. My eyes begin to wander over the forest amazed by how many trees there are and how it all just seems to continue on forever. It's nothing like the giant sky scrapers I'm used to.

I nearly jump out of my skin as a purple blur dashed in front of us. I suck in a fast breath and lean back, staring long and hard at the Rattata that stopped by the other side of the path to clean it's whiskers before noticing us. It let out a startled cry and dashed into the forest, vanishing behind the foliage. That thing just popped out of nowhere ... I glance over to Lance, seeing him staring at me and looking a little puzzled at my stiff stature.

"Um ... they common around here?" I ask, sounding more unnerved than I liked as I try to play off my surprise as nothing at all. It's just that Pokémon literally ran right into the road without thinking twice about it. Pokémon back in the city are much more, how should I say, careful about where they step.

"Of course. It is a forest. Now I'm assuming you came from a city?" He asks, rightfully assuming since that alone greatly startled me.

"Uh, yeah. Pokémon don't really pop out at you like that," I explain, gulping as I continue walking ahead of him. A sudden bustling of noises and crashing through underbrush makes my head snap around to see a sizable stampede of Rattata and Pidgey charging right at me, seeming to appear out of nowhere from the bushes. Sneasel almost immediately abandons me to the frightening blurs of purple fur and tan feathers, seeking safety over by Lance who was out of their range.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I scream in more shock than fright as I stumble back and fall over, feeling their little clawed paws dig into my shirt and "Get off! Get off get off!" I shout, flailing my arms and feeling them knock into a few Rattata and maybe a Pidgey as I roll into a ball and cover my face, feeling them leap off of my and run over me and do whatever they pleased in my pathetic state stuck in shock. My fingers tremble as I wait a few moments, listening to a few stragglers rushing past me before daring to look up, seeing the stampede of Rattata gone. Good hell that startled me.

" ... that's it, this forest is trying to kill me," I irrationally think, thumping my head into my hands in defeat as I wait for the next catastrophe to come and squish me where I stand. Out of the city and right into the freaking furnace is what I did that's for sure.

"No that's not it. Hm ... those Rattata were running away from something. Let's go check it out," Lance says before I hear bushes and leaves crunching. My head pops up, seeing Lance walking off into the forest with Sneasel curiously following him.

"Ugh ... you traitor," I huff as I watch them leave, hope to get rid of them both welling up in my heart. Well, with that guy gone and the Sneasel too I ... have absolutely no idea where I'm going, "hey, wait up for me," I call, getting up and brushing the dust off my pants and arms as I hurry after him so I don't lose him. "Get back here Lance you're my map," I flatly state, feeling some of the branches whipping into me as I hurry past them. Honestly if mankind was made to travel through forests we wouldn't have made stupid roads.

"All in good time. I have a feeling it was a powerful Pokémon that sent all those Rattata running. Or maybe there's a disturbance with Team Rocket," he says out loud before stopping short at the thought. I stumble forward, watching his back get a little more rigid in apprehension.

"Oh get out of the way. With that Gyarados of yours you could send the all to hell and back," I say, now not going to let him turn back. He's already dragged me into the forest this far so we might as well see what the hell is freaking out all those Rattatas.

"Hey, wait," she says, catching my shoulder and making me fall back, "let me lead. Team Rocket aren't people you can freely mess with. They are-," he stops short, flinching as I pinch his nose and pull him down to my height.

"I know who they are, twerp, and I doubt it's them. I saw that grunt try to grab a Pichu on the ship and if it was Team Rocket they would have captured those Rattata rather than let them escape," I huff, pinching his nose a little harder before letting go. He looks to me in shock, startled that I grabbed his nose like that despite him obviously being older than I am. I ignore his surprised expression and continue on, watching as Sneasel shot up a nearby tree and began to leap from branch to branch in its excitement.

"No need to be so harsh," Lance reprimands but I ignore him and truck on through the forest, determined now to see what the hell drove those Rattata to run me over like no one's business. A sharp startled squeak catches my attention as I look over some bushes, seeing some brown shelled creature Head Butt a Rattata right out of a small clearing. The rattata took off, leaving the proud creature to huff and puff up its chest in pride as it stomps the ground.

That's the funkiest looking Pokémon I've ever seen.

"Oh! That's a Turtwig," Lance says quietly, shocked.

"So?" I ask, looking back at Lance for an answer. Why does he sound so shocked? It's a Pokémon. They're everywhere. His eyes dart from me back to the strange humped Pokémon as it waddles over to a small spring in the corner of the field and taking a thirsty drink before back to me again, "Jackie, go catch it. This is your chance to experience a battle for yourself," he eagerly says with a grin.

" ... catch it? Why?"

"That Pokémon is extremely rare. They don't even live in this region and it doesn't seem to have an owner."

"Rare?" I repeat with a slight twitch. Oh it's mine alright. I look up into the trees, spying Sneasel's wild grin through the thick foliage. Alright, that sounds good and it looks like Sneasel is on board. "I want to but I don't have a Pokeball." I say, trying to think of how to catch it. Maybe in my shirt and then drag it somewhere so I can by a Pokeball?

"What about the ones around your waist?" He asks, tapping the side of it. My arm whips around and slaps his hand away from that.

"Don't touch those. And no, I can't use those." I say, staying firm in my rebuttal against him.

"Hm~ alright then. Here," he says, handing me a few Pokeballs, "try using these." He says, handing them to me. "Do you want me to explain how to catch a Pokémon?" He offers, looking really excited himself. I blankly stare at him, running through a list in my head as to what he could possibly want from me but nothing comes up.

" ... what's your deal? I still don't get why you're helping me." I honestly say, trying not catch the Turtwig's attention. His eyes soften slightly as he kindly smiles.

"I'm just excited to get the chance to show a new trainer how to catch a Pokémon. I was in your shoes once and I just want to have the chance to help you," he explains with a grin. Huh ... he genuinely seems like a nice guy. Which means he's probably easy to trick. Which means he doesn't want nothing from me except an excited grin from catching a Pokémon. I chuckle and take out a ball, grinning at my target before leaping out of the bushes.

The Turtwig whips around as I chuck the Pokeball at it, making it jolt as it whacks him in the head. The red sheen covers him as he is sucked into the Pokeball.

"I got him!" I grin, about to go and collect the moving ball before Lance quickly grabs my arm.

"Wait! Why didn't you weaken it first?" He asks as, with a clack, the Pokeball burst open. The red sheen vanished from the Turtwig as it glares at me, stopping me cold dead in my tracks. Uh oh.

"Uh ... Lance it didn't work now what?" I ask, looking at him for some direction. I could kick it. That could weaken it.

"Weaken it by fighting it with your Pokémon!" He says, yanking me out of the way as the Turtwig soars right past us, nearly balling me over with a nasty Tackle attack. I blink as his words finally make sense.

"Oooooh well why didn't you tell me that before?" I ask, shooting a small glare his way before locking eyes with the Turtwig. Alright you little bug now is for real. "Sneasel!" I call, watching his black fur blur through the air and stop in front of me. Wow this thing is fast.

"Alright, now let's see what you can do," I grin, keeping my eyes on the prized and supposedly rare Pokémon. This is so mine. " ... wait what are its moves? I think it used quick attack before?" I ask aloud, trying to remember what I saw when it fought that Raticate. And lost horribly.

"What?! You don't know the moves of your own Pokémon?" He exclaims, shocked at my puzzlement.

"Of course not. And it's not my Pokémon. It's just been following me around-oh hell Sneasel dodge!" I shout, watching as Sneasel gets decked by the Pokémon and tossed through the air. It let out a small cry before rolling to its feet, flinching as it clutches its side.

"Don't get distracted and just concentrate on the moves you know Sneasel knows!" Lance unhelpfully instructs as I try to figure out what the Pokémon's weak spot is before remembering Sneasel's move with the Raticate.

"Sneasel use scratch on its belly! That has to be its weak point!" I shout, feeling silly shouting every order. If this was a fight then I would lose, easy. The other person would be able to think of a counter method to get the upperhand rather fast and since I'm not a fast thinker, I'll lose. I need to develop a strategy later. Sneasel lunges forward for the attack, scratching the Turtwig across the face. The Pokémon easily recovers and bashes it's head against Sneasel for a powerful headbutt, sending Sneasel flying yet again.

"Sneasel, I said its belly not it's head! Flip it onto it's back so it can't get up and keep cutting at its softer stomach!" I order in more detail, watching as Sneasel tries to make a move first but the Turtwig's jaws snap down on its clawed hand with a powerful Bite.

Sneasel let out a pained cry and wildly flipped the Turtwig around, bashing it against the ground in an attempt to get it off.

"No scratch its belly, its belly!" I order, panicking a little as Sneasel begins to wobble back and forth. Oh no he's close to the end. And it was those first two attacks that hit him hard. Without a pause in beat Turtwig let go, getting on its feet before Head Butting Sneasel right out of the clearing. My hopes drop to the ground with Sneasel as it vanishes behind some bushes the way we came.

" ... well that didn't work out too well," I heavily sigh before I notice Turtwig's gaze is locked onto me.

Oh no.

"No, no no no no _no no no-_!" I start shouting as I dash away from it but it leaps through the air with amazing grace and tackles my back. The bruising agony rips through my abdomen as I fall flat on the ground with my face to the grass. Oh this did not work at _all_. Now I get why that guy didn't want Sneasel. Great company, terrible battler.

"Well, that could have gone better." Lance heavily sighs as a heavy small rounded foot smacks against my butt cheek. OW! My head whips around, glaring at the stupid Turtwig. Who the hell cares that it's rare? I sure as hell don't anymore! The Turtwig meets my gaze with a cheeky grin, stepping onto my back as if to emphasize his win.

Oh hell no. I did _not_ just get my butt kicked by a stupid, no good stupid Pokémon _thing_-! My arm whips around and grabs the Turtwig's back leg, ripping it off my back. It's heavy but my grip holds firm as I wobble to my feet, tightening my grip before shaking the stupid Pokémon in the air senseless.

"Jackie that's enough," Lance says in a slightly deeper tone, sounding almost disappointed at my reaction to losing against a small Pokémon hardly the length of my foreleg.

"Not so great when you're the small guy, huh?!" I growl as it reaches up and scraps its beak on my arm. I flinch and suck in a fast breath, seeing some blood dripping down my arm. Oh that's the final straw.

"OUCH! Alright _that's it!_" I shout before dropping the Pokémon and whipping my leg forward, kicking the startled Turtwig clear across the small clearing and into some bushes. Bruising agony races up my leg as I hop back, clutching my ankle with a pained expression. Oh good hell it's like I just kicked a boulder-!

"Ow, ow ow ow ow ow!" I whimper in a higher pitch than I'm used to, taking a knee and waiting out the pain for a few moments. Good hell I think I kicked it's shell-!

"D-Did you just _kick_ a Pokémon?" Lance gasps, mortified that I would every do such a thing.

"It's Head Butted me! That hurt like hell!" I sharply retort, feeling no guilt whatsoever for what I just did.

"But you kicked it!"

"He deserved it! And what the hell is the difference between that Sneasel beating the crap out of another Pokémon or me?!" I snap back, leaning on my good leg before limping back towards him. Ow ... ow ... wow, worst idea I have _ever_ had.

Sneasel's strangled cry catches my ear as I spy it lying against the base of a tree in a messy heap. I roll my eyes and hobble over to it, grabbing it's leg and lifting it up in the air to face me.

"Way to listen to me when I say belly, Sneasel." I say, not in the mood to reprimand it. I'm just achy and hurting and want to get to the stupid town already. With a small shuffle I pop Sneasel into my arm, letting it wrap it's arms around my shoulders so I can carry the injured Pokémon to town.

"Hmph. Tackle my Sneasel, Tackle me and _step_ on me ... like hell I'll let that go," I angrily grumble to myself as Lance stays quiet. "You coming or not?" I call back, trying not to show how much pain my right leg was really in. Lance sighs and follows after me.

"You're the second person I've ever met that would blatantly kick a Pokémon like that," Lance sighs with a faint chuckle, "and you kicked it's shell so you didn't really hurt it."

"Yeah, I figured that when I practically busted my leg off it's stupid green butt," I huff, getting back onto the path and making my way to New Bark town. First thing I need to do is ice my leg after that kick. Ugh ... that hurt a lot more than I thought it would.

"Here, let me lend a shoulder," he offers, setting a steadying hand on my lower back while I grab his shoulder to help support my limping.

"Thanks," I say, surprised that he's helping me after just witnessing me being brutally inhumane to a Pokémon. But, he's a nice guy. I'm sure he'll just dump me as soon as we get to town anyway since he seems to be the passive aggressive type.

It wouldn't be the first time someone did that to me.

* * *

" ... excuse me?" I ask, making sure what Professor Elm guy just told me. No ... no, this can't be happening to me. It's like every time something is looking up for me reality likes to squish it like a bug and leave me squirming around with nothing.

"I'm sorry but Mr. Para's relatives moved not too long ago. They moves to ... now, where was it they moved to?" He asks out loud in a wondering tone before he snaps his fingers in remembrance, "ah, that's right. They moved to Ecruteak!" He says with a grin, proud of himself for remembering.

"Fantastic. Where is that?" I ask in a flat and annoyed tone, obviously catching his attention. He pauses like a Stantler in headlights, his eyes going completely blank as whatever thoughts race through his mind. He raises his hand and with a shaky hand he points to the ceiling as if that action will either help him remember or cool my simmering fury. I'm still pissed that Turtwig came out and Tackled me like that and now Mr. Para's relatives aren't even here? Well there goes my room for the night.

"It's uh ah, ah just a moment it should be here somewhere ... ," he mutters to himself, digging through a large pile of papers and frantically searching for something. I roll my eyes and let out a deep sigh. Why do I always get the types of people that bumble and fumble around for crap when he could just direct me to the next town and I can get instructions there?

My eyes lazily follow were he scurries off to in the large lab room, numbly thinking in nothing in particular until the fire pit reminded me of flames, which reminded me of Lance's hair. Stupid Lance ... I was right about him being passive aggressive. The moment he dropped me off and got what he wanted from doctor quack he took off without so much as a see ya later. I'll bet I put him off when I punted that stupid Turtwig into the woods.

"Ah yes, here it is!" Professor Elm cries, taking out a small case and handing it to me. "Mr. Para told me you would be needing this on your travels so I'm willing to part with it to a new trainer," he says, handing the strangely flat device over. I blankly stare at it, trying to figure out exactly what it was.

"Um, thank you?" I thank in an unsure voice. I've gotten so much free stuff over the past few days than I have all my life. It's shocking how fast everything began to spiral out of control once grandma passed away. But ... what the hell is this thing?

"Look, it's a map and a phone. Here, let me register my number for you," he says, flipping it open and inputting his number somewhere as I look at the map. Whoa ... this looks very high techie techie I don't feel comfortable holding it.

"This is the most recent map of Johto. We are here and the gyms are located in the green dot on the cities," he instructs with his thoughts scattered and mind in a mushy state. He seems ... rushed. "And here is where you will find Mr. Para's relatives," he continues, pointing out Ecutreak for me.

"Are you late for something?" I politely ask in the nicest tone I could manage. He's so nice giving me all these things and now I'm thinking he's putting off something to do this for me. He pulls his hand back, looking a little flustered before sheepishly laughing off to the side.

"W-Why yes I am. I have a date with my wife soon and I've hardly gotten ready," he nervously laughs as he scratches the back of his head before his eyes widen as if just remembering something. "Oh that's right!" He continues, going over to his desk and pulling out a handful of Pokeballs and handing them to me. "These are Pokeballs that are used for catching Pokémon. Oh who am I kidding, you were with Lance so he must have shown you." He brilliantly grins.

"Sort of. Is there a place I can crash the night here in town? Oh, and who is Lance?" I ask, curious to get to know a little back story on this guy.

"You can, uh, stay here for the night if you'd like. Sleep anywhere you'd like!" He grins, opening his arms as if to gesture around the place. He still looked out of his element as he stares at me with a smile, his chest huffing and puffing a little as he got himself more and more worked up over being late. Oh he's gonna lose it soon so I better get some answers out of him fast.

"Uh ... thank you, I appreciate it," I say, sitting back against the couch with my throbbing leg, "so who is Lance again? And do you have ice-,"

"Oh dear, I really have got to get moving. I'm late as it is! I will lock up so don't worry about it. Have a good night!" He says, quickly rushing out of the building with a flush on his face. I stare after him as he locks the door to the lab behind him, leaving me with hard surfaces galore to find and sleep on.

"Wow ... now _that's_ a scatterbrain." I heavily sigh and get up from the chair I was using. I jolt as Sneasel lands on the desk next to me, his eyes riveting with excitement as he looks around the room with twitching ears.

"And now to hunt for a good place to sleep I guess," I say out loud, feeling a little apprehensive sleeping in a place I'm unfamiliar with. Especially one with so many windows? What will I do if it starts storming? The thought sends a frightened shiver down my spine before I brush it off, refusing to think about it. I'll be perfectly fine. My eyes scan the adjacent rooms, all of which have mostly windows for walls, spying a few refrigerators in one of the rooms. I'll bet that's the worker's lounge.

Sneasel adeptly hops along the desks with hardly a sound when it lands and takes off. Now that's impressive. If only we could work that silence and stealth into battles for surprise attacks and sneaky hit and runs ... no, I don't want to think like that. I'm not even a trainer. Or more like ... I have no idea what I am or what I'm doing anymore. I'm just trying to get to Ecutreak from here and that's all. Following people's instructions still even after getting out of the city is just plain annoying.

I push my meddling thoughts back and head over to the lounge, looking inside the frame and sighing in relief at the sight of a couch. Although all this space is really unnerving I'm glad I can find somewhat of a smaller room to sleep in. I walk into the lounge and sit on the couch, feeling the uneven springs as I lay on my side. This is uncomfortable but at least I have something good to sleep on. My arm twists back so I can use it for a pillow, about to try to fall asleep before I spied Sneasel looking around the room, clearly wide awake and not going to sleep anytime soon. It turns to me with almost glowing eyes as I shut the lights off, trying to get comfortable on the couch.

"Hrm ... I guess you are a night Pokemon ... just don't make a mess, alright?" I say with a loud yawn, closing my eyes to try and get some rest. I doubt Sneasel will make a mess. He seems well trained.

* * *

Alright now what trouble could Sneasel possibly get into at the lab? **_5 REVIEWS_** to find out! XD


	4. Chapter 4

Ok so when I'm writing a Pokémon POVs it will be more so in second person and in the human POVs it will be 1st person. Simple enough, right? I'm trying something new so let me know if it's confusing or not.

* * *

SNEASEL'S POV

Sneasel's bright eyes carefully take in the environment of the lab, recognizing certain aspects that made it similar to the lab the strangely dressed people with Rs on their chests ran. His eyes narrow in despise towards them before trotting over to the female human's side, staring at her sleeping face.

... humans sure are ugly creatures.

However, this female human saved his life and he will stay with her until he repays the deed thrice times over. It's the way of the Sneasel after all and as a Sneasel he plans to uphold it. He shakes off the thought and reaches up, gently clasping her hand and bringing it down to rest it on top of his head. Sneasel let out a deep sigh as his eyes slide shut, enjoying the subtle warmth radiating from the female human's hand. Such kind and loving warmth ... so very different from what he is used to. But this is a nice difference he was willing to accept.

A sharp clatter immediately catches his attention as his head whips around, his ears sharp and alert as he closely analyzes the sound. With adept silence he slides the human's hand off his head and sneaks over towards that door, intently listening to his stalked prey. What could be rummaging through the lab so late at night? An intruder? A thief? His mind races with vague ideas of what could be in the lab and for what reason it mattered little to him.

Something alive is rummaging around in his domain of night and he intended to teach it a lesson with the dark camouflage. As a hunter stalking its prey Sneasel silently darts through the lab, taking care not to clack his claws against the ground and cause attention to himself. The muffles thumps of the four legged Pokémon walking around adds to his exhilarated excitement as he leaps from desk to desk, being sure to land on the edges so the sound of his thumping feet isn't amplified through the hallow openings in the strange tables humans like to sit at for hours at a time.

His eyes are perfect for the night, taking in every detail for him to see as he stalks closer to his prey. His breathing is silent as he peeks over the edge, eager to discover what has intruded in his nest for the night. Sneasel's eyes flashes in recognition at the familiar brown shell and a determined looking Turtwig waddling through the halls, sniffing the ground before looking towards the room holding the bedding the female human was using. No, not again. Seasel refused to be bested. It was impossible for anyone to best him in the night. It was a Sneasel's natural domain.

With adept silence Sneasel lands behind the Turtwig, staring at its slowing gait as it pauses to listen to its environment. For a brief moment Sneasel believes he is caught but the Pokémon presses onward, keeping a more cautious eye out for danger. Here, he is blind. But Sneasel is not. With a frenzied grin Sneasel creeps up behind it, watching as it peeks into the female human's nesting area. The Turtwig perks up, obviously catching sight of its intended victim.

Sneasel's claws whip forward and grab Turtwig's back legs, making it bulk and let out a short, startled cry. With all his strength Sneasel twists around, throwing the lighter Pokémon across a few tiles and sends Turtwig skidding into a desk with a loud thump. Papers scatter over the ground as Sneasel leaps through the camouflage, Scratching the Turtwig across the face twice in a row. He is indebted to that female human and no Pokémon was going to deepen that debt.

The injured Pokémon lets out a battle like cry and rams it's head into Sneasel's gut, pushing him back across the ground. Refusing to be outmuscled by this runt Sneasel hooks his claws under the Pokémon's jaws and his feet claws into the gravel of the tiles, pushing back with all his strength. A ridge in the tile tips Sneasel back, giving Turtwig the chance to Head Butt Sneasel against the wall. He lets out a loud cry and drags his claws across Turtwig's face in a furious manner, trying to squirm his way free. After a moment the Turtwig reluctantly backs up, shaking it's head back and forth more so in annoyance than pain.

Sneasel takes the chance to dash away and reposition himself in front of the doorway to the female human's nest. The Turtwig glares at Sneasel as he growls, daring the intruder to come closer. The Turtwig takes an uneasy step back, realizing he is beat here in the darkness in the unfamiliar enviorment. With a few short, irritated huffs the Turtwig slowly backs up the way it came with Sneasel following at a few feet's distance, ensuring the intruder was leaving and not returning. Sneasel brandishes it's claws for the Turtwig to see, watching as it backs out of a hole in the corner of the building.

With bright eyes the Sneasel watches as the Pokémon turns tail and flees for the time being. Sneasel's chest puffs up with pride as he lingers by the entrance for a few moments before returning to the female human's side. He's won this match and will not be bested again by that humped Pokémon who could hardly handle a little darkness.

He fondly looks over her and hops onto the couch, silently looking over her and the marks on her head that he left when he clung to her in his terror of the sea. He hardly feels bad at all for them. Rather, he was quite proud. They were scars of fights and scars in the Sneasel culture are a prideful thing indeed. He curls up by Jackie's feet, setting his head on her leg as he alertly watches the entrance in case another intruder decided to come and try to put a mark on his female human.

No one will further his debt with this female human, not unless he deems it.

* * *

Sneasel's eyes open wide as feet shuffle within the hall. His curiosity immediately peaks as he silently crawls onto the arm of the couch and listens intently to the clicking tools tapping away near the door.

"Tch, hurry it up we don't have all night," a voice quietly hisses as a loud click sounds.

"S-Sorry sir-!" A panicked voice squeaks before there's a muffled thud.

"Shut up, newbie. You aren't allowed to talk." The harsher voice spits as the creaking of a door sounds. Sneasel crawls over to the door frame and peeks around the corner, observing the three strange men which slip into the room. One was tense, looking very nervous and immediately caught Sneasel's eye as the easiest prey out of them all. Sneasel very silently shuts the door to the female's temporary nest, never taking his eyes off the strangers. He didn't want her waking up and ruining his fun. Humans are loud and obnoxious and would assuredly be loud enough to wake the female human. Laying low to the ground Sneasel trails after them, watching as they immediately walk over to a room and find it locked.

"Tch, locked again. You're up kid," one of them says as the smallest grunt flinches and sharply nods. He slinks past the two more experienced members and kneels down, beginning to pick the lock with some rudimentary tools.

More intruders in Sneasel's temporary nest? He could hardly contain his excitement as he sneaks up behind the bigger grunt, tensing his clawed hand before slicing through his pant leg and sunk the sharp nails into the grunt's calf muscle.

"YEOW!" He shouts as he instinctively curls his leg back. Sneasel grins as he turned with the man and sliced his other leg before dashing off to watch his prey's reaction from afar. After all, what more fun is there than watching the prey's growing unease before all sanity is lost? One of the grunts whips over, smacking the man across the chest as he grips his mouth to keep silent despite his quieted groans.

"What the hell's the matter with you? Shut the hell up!" He snarls.

"Something, something got me," the larger man complains with a pained grunt, looking back on his calves to see the artistry Sneasel left for the uninvited guests. "D***, the hell was it?"

"Forget it, you probably scraped it on the way in," the man snaps before smacking the green haired boy upside the head, "hurry it up you. This heist goes off without a hitch and we get promoted. Which means you earn the right to talk." He snaps. Sneasel's eyes grow wide as he recognizes the voice. Anger and fury build up towards the arrogant prick of an old trainer as Sneasel's claws dig into the metal leg of the desk, creating a loud and frightening hiss to fill the room.

That monster human is a dead man.

"The hell-?!" The older man hisses under his breath, his eyes darting around the room.

"Forget it, just hurry the hell up," the despicable male human orders as he smacks the green haired one again. He jolts and stiffly unlocks the room, opening it for the two of the frightened men to rush inside with large empty sacks. "Stand by the door and keep watch, twerp."

"Y-Yes sir," the man stiffly nods before flinching back, realizing he spoke to the man. The irritable male human walks into the room without a look back, followed by the larger male human. So hideous, all of them. Humans, particularly the male counterparts, are rotten bags of undeserving flesh. Sneasel's eyes roll over to the timid younger human, a wild and sadistic sneer pulling his lips up.

He's first.

With his new objective now in mind he moves within the shadows casted by the moon peering into the lab. The green haired male nervously looks around the room as he shakily breaths, reaching into his shirt to shakily clutch some metal dog tags.

"I'm s-so-sorry sister ... I-I have to. I have to," he quietly murmurs, pressing his lips against the dog tags before letting them hand over his shirt. Sneasel's eyes greedily eye up the shining objects as it sneaks up behind the man and with a fast lurch slashes it's claws across his calves. The younger male lets out a frightened scream before dashing away from the door, whipping around just as Sneasel dissolves back into the shadows and waits for discord and fear to take the group over.

"Hey! Shut the hell up!" The despicable man orders as he stomps out of the room and glares at the sniveling newbie who shakily clutched his mouth and tags in hand. "What are you trying to do get us all caught?!" He angrily demands as he shoves the younger male back into the desk, asserting his dominance over the green haired boy. He frighteningly and vigorously snaps his head back and forth as Sneasel takes the situation to his advantage, silently creeping up on the man.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry-!" He stumbles out as the dominant male snatches the front of the boy's shirt.

"You want that little sister of yours to suffer? Then you sure as hell better-," he starts as Sneasel whips forward, digging his claws deep into his calf muscles and Biting the back of the man's thigh. "AAUGH!" He shouts before whipping around, knocking his fist against Sneasel's head. Sneasel holds firm and glares hard at the man with eyes full of hate, seeing the shock in the dominant human's eyes before it turns to ultimate fury.

"You ugly little pest-!" He starts before a beam of light shown. "Raticate, use Hyper Fang!" He spits in an order, still trying to be somewhat quiet. Sneasel stays on his leg for as long as he can, digging his claws into anywhere he can reach before whipping behind the man's leg and letting the oversized Raticate Tackle his owner to the ground.

"GEH-!" He shouts as he tumbles to the ground with the Pokémon he chose over Sneasel. Sneasel whips back and skids across the ground, staying partially in sight of the insatiable man. He lets out a growl and slips into the shadows, planning his next attack on the stupid human.

"D*** it! You fat lug, get outside and get the car ready!" The dominant human male orders the older man. The man stumbles out of the room with a sack full of bulking objects. Sneasel's eyes flash at the suitable distraction as he races towards the man and slashes the bottom of the bag clear open. Pokeballs scatter across the ground creating a horrible hazard for any of the flat footed humans to run over.

"S***-!"

"Keep going, forget the petty ones and leave it to me!" The dominant male vehemently hisses as his glare sends excited shivers down Senasel's spine. The older male growls under his breath before dropping the sack and dashing out the door without his prize. The fact they were stealing from the female human's temporary nest hardly phased Sneasel as he takes in his real target; the human male which tried to kill him not once but twice.

"You stupid runt of the litter! Boss was right ... you Sneasel's are insatiable when it comes to revenge. Should've cut you up when I had the chance," he hisses in a threatening voice. Sneasel sways back and forth, not bothered by his breathings of warnings and threats. Humans sure liked to breath threats and make noise but when it gets hard they flee. Every last one of them. That's why Senasel's bust went so badly when he was caught.

All because this cowardly human fled.

"You, grab the bag inside and get the hell out," he roughly orders the younger male as he shoves him into the room with Pokeballs before turning to Sneasel with a harsh glare, "Raticate, Hyper Fang this runt!" He angrily orders as the Pokémon dashes forward.

Sneasel leaps over the Raticate and Scratches it's hide before leaping away and with an eager grin took in his prey. To get to the dominant human male he needed to best this creature. And he knew just how to do it. His bright blue eyes dart over to the green haired human male stumbling among the other Pokeballs. Sneasel spins around and dashes to the younger male, leading the chasing Raticate right into the unstable ground of Pokeballs.

Raticate lets out a startled shout as it steps on a ball and flops onto its face, startled by the suddenly rolling ground. Sneasel grins and adeptly runs between them before leaping up and grabbing the top of the young man's bag.

"No, no don't do that-!" He cries, eyes full of horror as Sneasel runs its Scratch down the belly of the bag and splits it open, making the ground much more hazardous for the Raticate and others to transverse.

"D*** it-!" The dominant human male spits as Sneasel dashes across the ground on his light feet and tackles the Raticate right off its paws. With a loud cry it skitters across the ground and loudly thumps against the desk.

"Atticus, get back here now!" The dominant male barks at the younger as Sneasel slashes away at its face. He ignores the younger male stumbling through the maze of Pokeballs, hardly paying attention as the younger fell in front of the dominant human male. "Pathetic, all of this!" He madly spits as he grabs the younger male's shirt and lifts him onto his feet.

"Stay here and take the fall. I need to get the hell out of here," the dominant male cowardly orders as he sets Raticate's ball into the trembling fingers of the younger male. Raticate's eyes nervously glances to his master, awaiting an order as Sneasel Scratches it across the nose and makes it cry out.

"No, I can't! What about my sister? They'll kill her if I'm caught!" The younger male cries, gripping his chest in fear.

"Your sister? HA! They won't but if you dare to go off alone Team Rocket will be after you and take you down with it and your intolerable sister!" The dominant male cries, obviously losing it with the inexperienced male. Sneasel's eyes flash at the chance as he whips forward, Scratching Raticate across the face before the female human's words echoed through his ears. The belly ... with a wild grin he snatches the Raticate's back leg and throws it to its belly, visciously sneering at the Raticate before furiously Scratching its belly as many times in a row he possibly could while it's stuck on its back.

With a wild cry the Raticate frantically struggles to escape but Sneasel whips forward, biting it's neck for a Critical Hit. After a few moments of struggling the Raticate fell limp, completely out by Sneasel's flurry of attacks. With the pest out of the way Sneasel turns his gaze to the dominant human male who's hands clenched as it realizes it's prizes Raticate was done for. After a moment of deliberation a crooked grin covers his face.

"Hey, hey I didn't know you were this strong, Sneasel. Why were you holding out on me before?" He coos in a dark and devious tone as he kneels down to evenly look Sneasel in the eyes. "You're not a weakling like my boss thought. Let's go back and show her, eh?" He offers, pathetically pawing at the ground as though to entice Sneasel to return.

"H-How could you ... wh-why can't you just let us go?" The younger male breathes, heavily breathing in fright as he clutches his chest.

"Shut up you. You're too weak to have the right to speak to someone like me with a Sneasel like that," he vehemently hisses before turning back to Sneasel with a smile, "so, how about it old buddy?" He asks as Sneasel evenly stares him in the face. Sneasel turns and walks towards the wall, surprising the dominant human male as Sneasel leaps up, hooking his claws around the panic latch on the wall. He's seen what these things do in the other labs he's been in. Pulling on this makes the human's panic like a bunch of scattering Rattata. With a crane of his head Sneasel looks back to his old master, a crazed and sick grin on his face before he pulls it down.

JACKIE'S POV

"WAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I scream as I whip up, feeling my frantically pounding heart sorely hard from the sound of the alarm. What in the hell is going on?! I scramble off the couch and smack my head against the table as I try to gather my senses. Where am I? Why am I on a couch? Just as the memory of yesterday kicks in I hear a flurry of feet out in the lab. My head pops up, seeing through the window two Team Rocket members and a hissing Sneasel standing between them and the door.

Oh no.

"Don't touch him-!" I shout as I whip out the door, breathing hard as I face down the two criminals. What the hell are these two idiots doing here?! My breath sticks in my throat, spying the Pokeballs lying on the ground near the entrance. They're trying to steal Professor Elm's Pokémon?! Both of their heads snap back, recognition hitting the dark haired one's eyes.

It's him.

Fury engulfs my chest as I spread my legs, determined to hold at least one of them here with Sneasel. I can manage that much.

"What are you standing there for like an idiot? Fight her!" The older man orders the younger, making my gaze shift to the green haired boy. He visibly shutters as he takes a step back from me.

"B-But sir, I haven't got any Pokémon!" He meekly complains with terror written all over his face.

"Then distract her with your body! I told you, _your_ taking the fall for this mess!" He angrily spits, whipping around and kicking the green haired man's back before the man turns and charges at Sneasel, determined to get past him no matter what. He stumbles forward as I whip towards him, smashing my fist against his face and making him let out a loud, startled cry before crumpling to the ground.

"D*** it, you really are useless!" He shouts as Sneasel hooks a claw into the man's leg, dragging it across his calf and making him scream out in pain. His foot hits one of the many misplaced Pokeballs and awkwardly twists his ankle, dropping to the ground as Sneasel Scratches the man across the chest with a sadistic grin.

"Sneasel, get off!" I shout as I run up beside them and push the reluctant Sneasel off. The man's fist whips against my gut as I hack up a cough from the hit. I lean my weight on his chest and whip my elbow across the man's face making him put his arms up to defend himself. Sneasel stalks around our quarrel, whipping in and landing a scratch here and there wherever he can manage all with a too eager grin. No, no Sneasel don't become like that. If you go nuts and sadistic like they are you'll end up destroying yourself. Just ... just like my mother.

I get off the man and land a hard kick to his side, forcing him to turn on his side. Sneasel's eyes flash at the opportunity as he tries to dig his claws into the man's back but my arm whips forward, catching his wrist. Sneasel's frenzied gaze snaps up to mine, looking indignant at being stopped from mauling this man to death.

"That's enough, Sneasel." I order, watching as it slowly draws its claws back. I don't ... I don't want him to be tainted more than he has. With a hard kick I force the Team Rocket member onto his stomach before I sit on his lower back and hook my arm around his neck to pin him. "Sneasel, go get-,"

"Hello? Hello? Yes, we are at the l-l-lab in New Bark town where Team Rocket is stealing Pokémon! A-A-And they're fighting, it's scary, so scary!" I hear the younger man say. My head whips around, spying the bloody nosed boy clutching my Pokegear and frantically speaking to someone on the other line. Crap, is he calling for back up?! The moment Sneasel's eyes lock onto the boy he freezes, letting the Pokegear drop onto the floor.

"No, no please I beg of you! I just wanted to help my sister! I can't, I can't be arrested yet-!" He cries, dashing off towards the back wall which was all one large window. The Team Rocket man violently struggles underneath me as I flex my arm and spread my legs to either side, struggling to keep him pinned.

"Stop struggling!" I spit before jerking as a monstrously loud shattering fills the room. My head whips around, seeing the green haired man frantically leap out the building and take off into the forest with a strangled cry. The loud sirens begin to sound in the distance as I watch his figure race down the dirt roads in the back, feeling my heart stop as I spy a dark black van parked near the tree. That must be their getaway vehicle. Sneasel looks after him from the window before dashing out the shattered remains of the window after him.

"Sneasel get back here!" I shout, worried there might be more Team Rocket members in the building. If any more come I'm absolutely screwed. "SNEASEL SLASH THEIR TIRES!" I scream at the top of my lungs, praying that he would hear me.

"Hey, hey we need to get out of here now!" A voice shouts down the hall as loud feet thump against the ground. My breathing hitches in fear as my head snaps up, spying another Team Rocket member appear in the doorway and freeze as he spied me. His eyes dart from me to the man struggling underneath me.

"Hit her, for the love of hell get her off!" He orders as he struggles to reach back and grab me. I cautiously breath as the man reaches into his belt and pulls out a Pokeball. Oh no.

"Go, Raticate!" He shouts as the red light from the Pokeball expels just that. Crap ... I grit my teeth as I tremble, slowly getting up from the man. I'm done. As hard of a kicker I am I'm going to get hurt facing a Raticate. A Rattata sure but not a Raticate. Those things bite through bones. The man's hand whips around and grabs my shirt, shoving me back across the room.

"Get off me, get off!" He angrily spits, ripping his arm out of the other grunt's grasp that tried to help him up. He turned to me with crazed eyes, breathing hard through his teeth before reaching into his coworker's jacket and pulling out a gun. My whole world stops as he takes aim at me, his ragged breathing suddenly seeming much more threatening as he clutches his side.

"This should teach you not to mess with Team Rocket," he spits between his teeth, cocking the gun. There's nowhere for me to run or hide. This is Team Rocket, a serious evil organization that has little problem killing people like me. I've gotten in their way and now I need to be removed.

Simple as that.

_BANG BANG BANG_

I suck in a frightened cry and cover my head with my arms, hearing the bullets ricochet off of a metal surface. A loud and heavy prevalent breathing makes my heart skip a beat as the shadow and mere familiar presence fall over me with arms thicker than my waist covering me up in a protective hug.

"A-Aggron-!" I gasp, recognizing immediately the scars and marks on the bottom of its jaw. M-My grandma's Aggron. It's true, it's true good hell these old time Pokeballs actually have her Pokémon-!

My thoughts are drowned out by a thunderous, soul crushing roar expelling from Aggron's massive body. The sound waves alone rivet through my limbs and into my lungs, staking me to the ground in shock from its powerful Roar. Both of the Team Rocket member's screams are drowned out by the aggressive sound of dominance as they take off towards the shattered window and leap through it, wrestling with one another to get ahead.

"A-A-Aggron, Aggron-!" I stammer, unable to contain myself as I feel the urge to hug her and comfort her. She lost her trainer, my grandmother, hardly a few days ago and, and-! Irrational tears begin to stream down my face, catching the large Pokemon's attention. She lowered her head down to my height, awkwardly hunching over to bet a better look at my face with her large cyan eyes. After a few brief moments of staring at my puffy eyes Aggron's thick stubby fingers grab my arms, startling me from the sheer gentleness of her touch. How ... how did she know I was in danger? I ... I was starting to think these Pokeballs had nothing in them but do they really contain my grandmother's Pokémon? All six of them?

Aggron set me down on a nearby desk and turned her gaze to the field where the two bumbling members were still fleeing. Another gut wrenching Roar shakes the ground as the massive cry shattered every single window in the entire building dropping glass pieces everywhere on the ground. My heart trembles as Aggron stomps out towards the broken window, picking up her pace and sending desks and papers flying with her massive tail as she picked up speed.

My jaw drops as she leaps out of the building, soaring for nearly a dozen feet before landing hard on the ground. She brings a glowing hand back before smashing it against the ground and rupturing the grass and rocks underneath with her staggering Earthquake. All those times of visiting grandma's house and going on gentle walks with Aggron and picking flowers in the feilds with her completely vanish as I witness the devastating power she's dishing out. H-Holy Magikarp, grandma. Just what kind of monstrous Pokemon did you really have?

The Team Rocket members scream as they stumble, getting caught in the divots and cracks in the ground. They scream and shout as Aggron walks right up to them with ease and plucks them out of the earth, holding firm to them before walking back towards the building.

"Freeze! Put your hands in the air!" A woman shouts as I shakily turn to the police officers dashing into the room, taking caution of the glass pieces on the ground.

"I-I-I there, t-there's Team Rocket?" I squeak out in a questioning voice, unable to contain my trembling as Aggron stepped into the lab with her catch. The officer's jaws drop in shock as they watch the larger than average Aggron enter and draw nearer. Her massive weight crushed the tiles into dust each time she took a step, probably cracking the foundation deep beneath the weak flooring as she firmly holds the two terrified Team Rocket members in her grasp.

"D-Don't shoot. I called." I wrongly claim, shaking off her shock and disturbance at Aggron's powerful presence I turn to the Police. "These people broke into the lab and tried to steal the Pokeballs on the ground right now." I say, gesturing to the mess all over the lab.

" ... return this Aggron to its Pokeball," the officer with blue hair ordered, obviously wanting to take complete control of the situation.

"Y-Yeah. Uh ... Aggron, return." I say, holding up the ball and taking the cap off. Aggron cast her eyes over me, seeming unimpressed by my lack of command before she dropped the two Team Rocket members right onto the large shards of glass scattered throughout the room.

"H-Hey! Aggron, please return," I say, holding the ball out at full arm length towards her. The Aggron openly stares at me and rolls her eyes before heavily sitting down, shaking the entire room with her careless actions. I stumble to the side and clutch the desk tightly, looking up to her in shock. She's never disobeyed me before. B-But then again, I've never had to order her before. I've always asked.

"You two, get those members in cuffs," the woman says, lowering her gun as two officered rush to either side of the large Aggron and drag the reluctant Team Rocket members back towards the other officers to handcuff them.

"Trainer, this is an official order from the police of New Bark. Place this Pokémon back into its Pokeball or face serious charges," she rightfully orders, feeling uncomfortable in the presence of such a powerful Pokémon.

"I-I'm trying to but I can't. She won't listen," I say, trying to explain my situation as I get a little more frantic, "M-My grandma died recently and in her will she gave me her Pokémon b-b-but this is the first time one came out a-and she won't go back in," I explain, praying the officer will understand.

"It is the duty of a trainer to have his or her Pokémon under their control at all times in order to keep the peace with the public and avoid unnecessary catastrophe. I will tell you once more to place that Pokémon back into her Pokeball," she orders once again, deciding to be a little harsh with the law. Which, I understand but don't particularly like since it's putting me on the cop's bad side.

"What happened to my lab?!" A frantic, pained voice cries as Professor Elm rushes down the hall, sliding and grabbing the door frame to right himself before looking inside and adjusting his glasses. His eyes dart around the ground, taking in the Pokeballs and glass shards all over the place and the culprit who helped add to the destruction - me. His jaw dropped, stumbling into the room.

"Professor Elm, stay back," the officer sharply orders. Professor Elm stiffens from the order and holds still but doesn't move back as he locks his desperate and horrified gaze on me.

"J-Jackie! Are you alright?" He cries from where he is, "you're bleeding!" He points out, making me stiffen slightly. I look down over my body, not feeling pain anywhere but seeing smudges of blood on my outfit. Ew ...

"I-I'm fine, it's not mine," I sheepishly admit, seeing his gaze lock onto Aggron.

"T-That Aggron is _huge_! I-It must be over seventy years old!" He cries in excitement, his eyes darting all over the Aggron's body and taking in its many scars and scratches from previous battles.

"Uh ... eighty four to be more exact." I correct, trying to show how well I'm getting along with the man who owns the place to prove my relationship with him.

"That's amazing! I haven't seen an Aggron this large since ... ," he trails off, his expression falling into a baffled expression as he takes a step closer and looks at the end of her tail before back to Aggron's face, "Bliss? Is that Eiting's Bliss?" He says, clear astonishment written all over his face.

"You know my grandmother?" I asked, startled that he called Aggron by name. Aggron never seemed to mind that I called it Aggron. To me when I was younger Aggron was a cooler name than Bliss.

"Of course! And I-,"

"Professor, get back. Ma'am, place that Pokémon back into its ball. This lab is still under investigation by the New Bark police and we intend to find out exactly what happened so please keep the pleasantries away until the investigation is complete." The female officer firmly states, not allowing any room to budge on the subject manner.

"O-Oh yes of course. Bliss, return," Professor Elm orders with surprising confidence. Bliss stares at the Professor before swinging her head over towards me, staring deep into my eyes with a longing sadness and despair before touching her snout to the tip of the extended nozzle on the Pokeball and vanished into it with a beam of light.

"What the-?! Hey, hey Bliss, why did you listen to him and not me?" I demand, a little indignant that she ignored me but listened to someone I just met that day.

"Now place those Pokeballs on the desk and back away please," the female officer orders with a gentler yet still firm tone, relieved that she no longer had to worry about a giant Aggron.

"No officer, it's alright I trust Jackie. She is Mr. Para's friend," Professor Elm reassures the officer, stepping over the glass. He worriedly glances from side to side, obviously shocked at the aftermath of letting me stay for one night. I have a feeling I'm going to have to pay for this somehow. "Jackie, are you alright?" He asks again with a more serious tone, looking me over for any injuries before his eyes widen, "Jackie, you're head! There's a huge lump!"

"No, no I'm fine. Sore but fine. I woke up to the alarm going off a-and bumped it I guess," I say, drawing my fingers over the sensitive bump on my head. Ow ... "I came out of the lounge where I was crashing for the night and saw sneasel - SNEASEL!" I shout, mortified that in all that had suddenly happened I practically forgot about him. My head whips around towards the field, searching the roughed up ground for him. Where did he go?

"Oh, your Sneasel got out?" Professor Elm asks, looking out to the forest with a little worry but with a more so reassuring smile, "don't worry, Sneasel will come back. Night is a Sneasel's domain after all." He explains with a sheepish smile. But ... but I don't actually own that Sneasel. It just followed me around until now and now ... it's gone.

My Sneasel left me.

* * *

:3


	5. Chapter 5

ATTICUS'S POV

"WAAAAAAHHHHHHH GET AWAY FROM MEEE-!" I scream at the top of my lungs as my legs ache from running so far for so long. No matter what I do this crazy Sneasel keeps chasing me! "Shoo! Shoo! Go, g-go back to your trainer!" I shout with a frenzied cry as it makes a sudden dash for my legs, barely skimming it's claws across my calf. The sharp touch brings out a sudden burst of energy from me as I pump my legs harder, refusing to get caught by this Sneasel.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" I shriek and pick up my frantic pace, feeling my chest huffing and puffing hard at the slow pursuit. That Sneasel is getting just as exhausted as I am but for some reason it just won't stop. Does it have a personal vendetta against Team Rocket?

"I'm out, I'm out I swear I'm out!" I cry, feeling my heart internally breaking from the thought. I ... couldn't rescue my sister being a Team Rocket grunt. And they wouldn't have let her go by using me. I'm so terrible at it that I would have put her in a worse position. No, I still can but I ... I'm not strong enough. I have no Pokémon of my own and no way to get there.

And it's all my fault that this happened to us.

"Gah-!" I cry as I stumble through some bushes and land hard on my stomach, feeling the wind get knocked out of me. My chest heavily recoils with coughs as I try to get up but the Sneasel lands on my shoulders and pins me to the ground hard.

"Get off, please, please get off-!" I cry, feeling my chest heave with fear. It's claws sloppily hook around my neck making my breath hitch. No, no please no-! The Sneasel lets out a startled and strangled cry as his weight suddenly vanishes off my back. I suck in greedy, startled breaths as I whip around onto my back, clutching my scratched neck as I spy the back of a strange looking green Pokémon with a brown shell. Sneasel wobbles as it picks himself up, breathing hard as it clutches it's gut and glares at the green Pokémon. I-It ... that green Pokémon just saved my life. Oh! That's a Turtwig!

The Sneasel irritably flexes it's claws before rushing the Turtwig and slashing it across its face. The Pokémon flipped back from the attack and planted it's feet into the ground before roughly tackling the Sneasel back. His eyes flash as he gripped the bottom of Turtwig's broad jaws and flipped him over, smacking him into the ground with all his might and stunning him for a moment. The Sneasel's grin grew wider as he Scratched the Pokémon across the stomach, making it painfully cry out.

"Hey, stop-! H-Hey, hey Turtwig use Bite or something!" I shout in my panic, feeling my heart painfully squeeze from the Sneasel hurting it. The strange looking Pokémon let out a faint growl before latching it's jaws around the Pokémon's leg. Sneasel lurches forward trying to shake the Turtwig off as its jaws sunk deeper into Sneasel's leg. My eyes widen as I spy Sneasel rearing it's claws to Scratch Turtwig across the face.

"Hey! Let go and jump back, now!" I cry as the green Pokémon loosened its Bite, jumping back evading the Sneasel's claws. I-It listened to me-! Immediate attachment to the little Turtwig swelled in my heart as I stare at him. Maybe ... this means he sees me as a trainer? That has to be it!

"N-Now, uh ... what would she do," I mutter to myself trying to think of what my sister would do in this situation, "Oh, right hey! Use Tackle and aim Sneasel at the trees!" I order. If the Pokémon does it right then Sneasel will be temporarily stunned and we could escape.

Sneasel's eyes narrow as he lurches to the side, grabbing Turtwig's back leg as it charged to Tackle him. Oh no-! With a smirk Sneasel whips around and flings Turtwig into the air a few feet before leaping up, intending to Scratch the softer underbelly.

No, if that Sneasel hits the Pokemon that way then it'll surely get badly injured a-and-! I freeze, an idea coming to mind as everything seems to slow down. Wait that's it-!

"Hey! Tuck yourself into a ball and spin!" I order, watching indecision before determination set into the Turtwig's eyes. The Pokémon tucks into a tight ball and protects its belly, using the momentum from the throw to spin around. Sneasel stiffens putting its long arms around to shove the danger away. Now-!

"Headbutt!"

The Turtwig unwound itself just in time to Headbutt Sneasel to the ground, crushing the Sneasel's with the Turtwig's added weight. Sneasel let out a strangled cry as Turtwig leaps back, glaring at Sneasel as it tries to get to its feet, breathing hard from the powerful hit. Perfect, and it was weakened before from all that running. So now it's probably weak enough to catch.

"While it's down," I fish around my pocket pulling out a small red and white capsule, pressing the button in the center to enlarge it. Sneasel's glaring eyes turned to him before spying the ball, its eyes widening as he quickly stumbles to its feet and growls at him.

"Hah-!" I breathe sending the Pokeball flying at the weakened Sneasel. The button hits the Pokemon on the head, making the ball click open with a red beam of light spilling over Sneasel. The Pokmon is sucked right up into the ball as it seals shut, falling the ground the ground with a click. I got it!

The Pokeball didn't shake once before it popped open and the flailing Sneasel materialized from the escaping red light. Sneasel's glaring eyes rolled over to Atticus with a disgusted and angry sneer as it flexed its claws, its eyes on the large printed R on his shirt.

I let out a faint sigh of relief despite the Sneasel escaping the ball. Oh good, I can catch it. When I saw the Sneasel in the lab I thought it might have been that girl's but it must be a wild Pokemon the Professor had. I ... should return it. But then they would know that I was there and I would be arrested. And then my dear sister ... there would be no hope for her. I suck in a breath, putting on a determined smile. I-I'll make sure to give it a good home.

With a sneering growl the Sneasel rushes forward, eyes wide with a crazed flare.

"Augh!" I step back before remembering the Turtwig that is on my side. No, no with Turtwig I can beat it. "Headbutt now!"

The grass type came running at Sneasel's side as it leapt through the air to slash me across the face. Sneasel's eyes widen as Turtwig lands a direct hit to Sneasel's side and sends him flying into a nearby tree. It's head snaps back as it lands harsh against the bark, dropping hard to the ground with a weak cry. I quickly ready another Pokeball, feeling it enlarge in my hands in preparation to be thrown.

The Sneasel stays down this time, trembling slightly as he eyes the ball in my hand. This time for sure. I chuck the Pokeball as it lets out a feeble growl, watching the red light engulf it and suck the Pokémon into the ball. I intensely stare as the ball rolls back and forth, the center button glowing to represent that Pokémon's struggling before going quiet. The resounding click of the Pokeball indicating that the Sneasel was caught makes a crashing wave of relief hit me hard. I got him, I caught him! I sink to my knees in shock and let out small gasps for air, finding the entire situation emotionally and physically exhausting.

"Thank ... thank goodness. Now I can rest. He let out a heavy sigh before getting up and walking over to retrieve the Pokeball. The Sneasel within the see through cap of the Pokeball openly glares with fiery furious eyes, making me flinch. Behind those eyes was a conniving mind probably strategizing my demise in the most horrifying way possible. T-That's right ... catching the Pokémon is half the battle. There's no guarantee that it won't attack its own trainer in the beginning.

I gulp at the thought and minimize the ball before clicking it to my belt. I can worry about that later. Right now I need to get everything in order. My thankful gaze turns to the Turtwig with a biggest smile on my face. He protected me ... he must think of me as a trainer worthy for him! The Pokémon sits in the middle of the field with his back to me, looking around the forest.

"Hey little guy, thanks for protecting me," I cheerfully smile as the Pokémon glances to me, standing up to look deep into my eyes. I almost tear up, feeling the sense of attachment grow stronger as the Turtwig cluelessly stares at me. "You defended me! You must want me as a trainer!"

" ... tur?" The Turtwig utters, tilting his head in confusion as I cheerfully pull out a Pokeball.

"Don't worry, I will take great care of you! With you on my team there isn't anything I can't accomplish!" He cheerfully states with glowing eyes as Turtwig's jaw drops in blatant shock. I rear my arm and lovingly throw the Pokeball as Turtwig scrambles back, letting out a shout as it smacks him in the back of the head and pulls him into the Pokeball. The ball weakly rolled and tumbled over the grass. Awe, poor buddy, the fight with Sneasel must have made him weak. I will take him to a Pokémon city in the next town for sure.

I grin and pick up the ball, pressing it to my cheek in elation.

"I caught him! Two Pokemon in one day! Oh, I wish sister could see this ... ," I happily chuckle, watching as Turtwig rams against the sides of the ball. So cute. I smile shrink the ball, attaching it to my belt as I look around the area. And now ... now to find that girl. I saw that Aggron as I was fleeing and with her help, if it's hers, I ... I might be able to rescue my Growlithe from Proton.

JACKIE'S POV

"Alright! Are you all set to go?" Professor Elm asks with a cheery grin despite the cleanup crew picking up what pieces remained of his office. Oh good hell I feel so bad for all this ...

"Is this all covered by the insurance company?" I ask, doubtful. Luckily and unluckily there are video cameras all over the place. All the damage the thieves done will more than likely get covered but the damage that Aggron did won't be.

"Ah~ don't worry about it! I'm just glad no one got hurt is all," he says with a bright smile.

" ... yeah, right," I slightly nod, still feeling the whole that was ripped out of my chest yesterday. No, I shouldn't feel bad. That Sneasel saw it's chance and leave and it took it. No big deal. He just ... ugh, forget about it this is making me depressed thinking about him!

"No, it doesn't feel right. Here," I say, pulling out the thick wad of cash Mr. Para gave me and leaving myself only a few hundreds. I still have the money in the account left and after Mr. Para patches that through I can start slowly feeding off of that.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly take your money! That was given to you by Mr. Para," he says, not looking like he was going to take it any time soon.

"Please? Look, you can uh, patch me through with some favors when I need help on something. Just think of this as an investment I guess," I weakly smile, taking his wrist and setting the money in his hand.

"Look, I don't feel comfortable with this. I can pay for the damages myself," he reassures, probably selling off things in his mind to be able to pay for all the damages.

"And I said no. Professor Elm I am not leaving until you take my money." I never thought the day would come where I would say something as stupid and ridiculous as this. Money is precious but he ... he needs it and deserves it after all those damages. Plus with Professor Elm knowledge and experience him being indebted to me will help a lot.

"I," he starts, about to object before heavily sighing and clutching the green cash in his hand, "very well. And if you need anything you only need to give me a call a-and if I'm not available I can send an assistant to come to your aide," he reassures, already thinking of ways to pay me off.

"Alright good. And thank you for all your help, Professor Elm," I say, waving him off as I adjust my shoulder strap to my bag.

"Not a problem! OH!" He shouts, as if just remembering something. Oh no has he noticed that Sneasel hasn't come back at all like he thought he would? He hops back into the door and rummages around for something before walking back out with a larger bag more for people going camping and such. "Take this. It's not much but it has some irreplaceable supplies for camping. If you ever get caught out in the woods at night this will come in tremendous help," he says with a cheerful grin. I stare at his expression with dead eyes before smiling, "thank you, Professor Elm. I will be seeing you," I say, waving to him before turning my back and letting my face crumple into crushing sadness.

Why didn't Sneasel come back? It's literally ripping me apart trying to figure out why he hasn't returned to me. Is he hurt? Or ... or did he figure out I'm not such a great trainer? Yeah, that was probably it. After all because of my inexperience yesterday in catching that stupid Turtwig he was knocked out cold. It's ... all my fault. It's always my fault.

I swallow down my grief as I blink a few times to keep the frustrated tears back, biting the side of my lip. No, no I'm not allowed to cry. Not yet. I ... I don't want to cry. Not in front of all these people walking down the sidewalk with no idea what's going on. After all, why would they care? I'm not involved in their daily life neither am I needed to make them happy.

I'm completely alone out here. No one depends on me and I can't depend on anyone else.

* * *

A few sniffles finally make it past my guard as I take a deep breath of the trees and forest around me, hardly able to calm my nerves. I ... just need to relax. That's all. And I ... I will be fine. Just fine. I rub my eyes and walk down the path noticing a large pond off to the side of the path. Hm ... I need to sit. Just for a little bit at least.

With a heavy heart I wander over to the base of a tree out of sight from the path. I don't want anyone walking down the path and suddenly seeing a girl bawling her eyes out. That's never a fun thing to see. My back sticks to the bark a little as I lean back on the thick roots and stare over the large pond, seeing the ripples of Pokémon swimming about under the water. Hm ... a good trainer needs to have a good variety on a team. Water types are always good. I reach into the bag and pull out the old Pokedex, booting it up to see what kind of water Pokémon there are in the world. A little research never hurts.

"Woopah~ Woo~pah~ Woopah~," a small chant rings in my ears as I look down, jolting as I spy a whole string of armless fish like Pokémon coming out from between my legs. I jump up and brace my legs against the roots, watching in shock as more and more of these creatures crawl out of a muddy den based under the roots. Whoops, I must have scared them out. But they don't look too concerned that I'm here. I curiously watch the blue creatures wade into the water before pumping their tails and swimming in a rather carefree way through the water.

... cute ...

"Alright let's see what you all are," I say out loud, hitting the button down through the row of Pokémon names before spying a picture of what all these things were. "Here you are," I say, relaxing back against the roots of the tree and holding still so I don't startle any of them as I read through the entrance

_This Pokémon lives in cold water. It will leave the water to search for food when it gets cold outside._

Well it can survive on land which is good. I really like that actually. When I think water Pokémon I think of ones with fins and can't breathe out of water but this can walk around. I watch as they piddle around in the water for a little bit, twisting rather gracefully in the clear shallow water before paddling up near the top. One of them looks in my direction, giving me a loud and cheerful 'woopah~' before falling back under the water and swimming around with its companions. Those small eyes and big mouth are surprisingly cute on this thing.

"Cute. A bit of a stupid expression but it's cute." I say to myself as I read on to their stats. "Not too strong at all I see." But it's still very, very cute. It's like the longer I look at it the cuter these slimy little things get. I bulk as a faint glow shines from inside the hole they came from. I hesitate before holding my hair back and hesitantly peeking inside the den, eyes widening as I see small rounded objects morph and release a sudden burst of light, blinding me.

"Gah!" I shout, whipping my head back and rubbing my eyes to try and get my sight back. What the hell was that? My eyes crack open, seeing a bunch of tiny Woopers hardly the size of my hand softly swimming into the water with the larger woopers. Those are ... babies? My heart immediately is struck hard with their adorable tiny bodies as about a dozen of them splash their way to the adults. Cute~

I watch the babies piddle around and try to right themselves every couple splashes, seeing a light purplish tan one among the little blue babies. That one's a different color. Does that mean it's a special case? I stare at it for a bit, seeing how similar it acted among the other young Woopers. It doesn't look like it's any less or more intelligent. After a few more moments of watching them I turn my gaze back to the Pokedex.

"Now let's see what you evolve into ... ," I murmur, going down a digital page and seeing a not so cute blob with a duller expression than the first, "hm. This looks even more clueless that the pre-evolution. I huff, looking through some of the average stats and 'fun facts' about this Pokémon. "What? Electric attacks don't affect it? Now that's cool." I say, looking a little more greedily to the Woopers swimming around in the water. The babies happily flip into the air and twirl around in the water, exploring their new environment with interest and excitement. My eyes continue to travel back to the discolored one, seeing that it's the easiest to see among it's baby brethren. Their stats aren't very good but this is just too cute.

" ... oh who cares. I'm depressed, you're cute, so I'm catching you," I flatly state as I roll up my pants and sleeves. I can't imagine it being too hard. They hardly seemed to notice that I was even here let alone literally sitting on top of their burrow. I slowly walk out to the center of where all the Woopers are, standing completely still and watching as they continued to swim around without a care in the world. I lick my lips in concentration as I watch the little tan wooper loop through the water in a not so coordinated way. I lean forward and whip my hand into the water, taking care not to hurt the other Woopers as I try to make grabs at the slippery little wooper. Ha. not so easy as I thought.

"You're a slippery little fella." I chuckle, trying to cut him off at some points with my hand but he makes an unexpected dip and goes right under. He's so cute swimming around like that but he has to get tired at some point.

Right?

* * *

This is just insane.

My hand whips into the water faster and faster as I struggle to surprise the slippery Wooper and make a grab at him. I got him out of the water once but I squeezed too hard and he literally shot out of my hands like a little cannon back into the water. And now it's purposefully letting me catch it so it can make the same slight adjustment and shoot higher into the air. UGH!

"Why you no let me catch you?!" I shout in my frustration, knowing that the sun is finally getting to my brain from the incorrect sentence structure. All the other Woopers have already swum off to who knows where leaving this little discolored guy to mess around with me by itself. I am so determined to catch it that at one point I strip off my clothes so I'm only in my bra and underwear so I can go hard at some dives and grab the little fiend.

"Get. In. My. _Hands_!" I shout, cutting it off at some points as it paddles around under the water with a wide open smile before suddenly popping out of the water with a quick flick of its tail. Water suddenly shoots out of its mouth and sends me careening back into the water.

"ACKGEAGKWERA!" I incoherently shout before the water stops. UGH! That has got to be the 5th time this thing has Water Gunned me! I look at the little Wooper in shock as it happily bobs in and out of the water repeating it's little chants with a broad open mouth as if to mock me with that clueless smile.

... I hate this thing so much but I _want_ it.

With a last attempt my hand shoots out and grabs its tail but with a quick flick it slips free, swimming circles around my tired state. It's amazing how much energy this little thing has. I heavily sigh as I pick myself up out of the water and look into the sky, watching as the sun starts to set. Well it looks like I'm camping out by the Wooper tree.

I trudge back to my clothes, defeated by the little Wooper. I never thought catching it would be so difficult. Oh and fantastic my bra and underwear are wet. Making sure no one is around I quickly change into a fresh set and lay the other two items out to dry. I was smart taking my clothes off before getting down and dirty trying to catch that stupid Wooper. I button my pants on and slip my shirt into the right place, sitting on the dry side of the tree before looking up at the sun setting behind the tree line. I numbly stare at the amazing array of colors the sky is creating right before my very eyes.

It's beautiful.

Of course the city has it's perks and hidden beauties too but out here in nature it's just everywhere. From the abundance of plants to the animals residing in it.

"It's beautiful," I breathe out loud, just needing to hear some words to create a false sense of company around me. In the city people are everywhere but out here there's none. Just ... me. It's amazing how lonely that feels.

"Woopah~," a sound besides me sighs as if it's enjoying the same sunset. My eyes burst open as I slowly look to my side, seeing the small discolored Wooper sitting on the ground next to me and staring at the sunset with a wide, absolutely clueless smile on its face. It's little feet move back and forth as I keep my eye on it, slowly reaching for a Pokeball. My eyes never leave its head as I twist around and gently tap the button against its head. It's body vanishes into the Pokeball as it shuts nice and tight, weakly wobbling from side to side before the Pokeball makes a brief sound like a ding and stops moving.

... oh you stupid little ankle biter now I _know_ you were messing with me that whole time.

I heavily sigh and thump my head against my knees, done for the day without any exception. Well ... I lost one Pokémon and I gained another. If this pattern keeps up I'll probably be the most loose trainer there ever was. I shrink the ball and click it back into the normal belt for the Pokeballs, leaning back against the tree with my bag beside me and under my arm. No matter how hard I try Sneasel's face continues to pop up in my mind like a never ending Nightmare.

Where did that little traitor go?

_Ring ring~ ring ring~_

I flinch as the phone begins to ring, catching my attention. Hm, Professor Elm? I wonder what happened?

"Hello?" I answer, for a split second praying that Sneasel returned to the lab and he's there waiting for me.

"Ah yes, Jackie! It completely slipped my mind but Mr. Para's friend Eiting left an egg for you! With all that's happened I forgot to give it to you. Could you come back as soon as you can and pick it up?" He asks in an almost pleading voice. An egg? From ... my grandmother? Why? With a heavy groan I push myself up, rubbing my sleepy eyes.

"Yeah, I'll be back there soon. Want me to head over now or wait until morning?" I ask, unsure of what time would be best for him.

"Either one is fine! Actually, I will have an assistance bring you the egg you so you don't have to walk all the way back. What hotel in Cherrygrove are you in?" He politely asks.

"Uhh no no, it's fine. I'll come down now to get it. I'm not that far from New Bark," I answer, rubbing my sleepy eyes.

"Oh alright. Then you can probably just stay at the New Bark hotel." He offers as he goes ahead off thinking about who knows what.

"Yeah, that sounds good." I sleepily say. Hell if I even make it to New Bark at this point. I might just keel over and pass out at the side of the road if I find a nice grassy spot for myself. With another deep yawn I get up, walking over towards the path and planning to walk all the way back to New Bark. Whatever ... at least I'll get a nice bed to sleep on instead of a tree.

* * *

Reviews really help me out so if you have an idea as to what could happen or just want to express your thoughts be my guest :3 Usually I ask for reviews for the next chapter but for now I will not ask for reviews since I'm bursting with ideas as to what could happen but you are still more than welcome to add ideas that I could use later. I greatly appreciate them and if I use your idea you WILL get credit, no worries! :3


	6. Chapter 6

I numbly walk down the bustling boardwalk overlooking the beach and ocean, trying to get my mind off of Sneasel. Cherrygrove is pretty crowded but it's nothing compared to the city I grew up in. It's giant sky scrapers and buzzing noises of life are pretty nostalgic.

My stomach loudly grumbles as I look around the shops for something to eat. I missed breakfast and walked the entire way here from early morning to the late afternoon. I mean good hell I was so disgusting I had to take a shower in the community beach showers for crying out loud and I'm positive I wasn't allowed to do that. But I did it anyway. I let out a deep sigh rather depressed with how my adventure has gone so far. If this is how my fun 'adventure' is going to be like I'm going to be dead before I reach the next town.

My eyes travel over the rather fit bodies walking along the boardwalk, taking a moment to appreciate the work some guys had put into their arms and abs. Oh~ woof woof~ not back. I snicker at myself and keep walking, simply appreciating the eye candy all around me ... and promptly looking away from the not so eye candy sprinkled in amongst the others. Oh come on people if you got it, flaunt it, if not, put that thing under a shirt.

My Pokeball jerks a little, catching my attention as Wooper swims around and around in a never ending circle with the Pokeball. I tap my nail against the top, trying to get its attention as it swims around in a happily oblivious state of happiness.

"Hey, Wooper, you're not going to get anywhere doing that," I point out as it continues, determined to reach an end at one point. I breathe out a faint smile, feeling a sparse moment of content before my heart starts to ache again. Stupid Sneasel ... I need to let it go. It's not healthy holding on to it like this. But if it comes back then ... no, no I need to get that thought out of my mind. That Sneasel is not coming back.

I glance over my shoulder and eye the bag holding the strange egg the Professor gave to me. I wonder what it is? I'm sure I could find out by the marks alone if I research it but that kind of takes the fun out of being surprised.

The sweet scent of the ocean helps make up for the hot sun bearing down over the boardwalk. I've never gone to a beach before and here one is right in front of me. Maybe I should buy a bikini and go swimming. Wooper's ball wobbled a bit as it swam around a little faster. I'd have to get a round bucket to dump Wooper into first. No way in hell am I letting it anywhere near those crashing waves. It's just a baby.

The Pokeball let out a loud crash, popping open with Wooper hopping out, proudly waddling around on the boardwalk. Its mouth opened wide in amazement at all the things around it as it hurried off to explore the hot boardwalk.

"Woopah~"

"Oh no you don't," I say, quickly pinching the Wooper's tail and lifting it into the air. Wooper continues to excitedly kick its legs back and forth acting like it is still running to freedom and who knows were with the broadest smile on its face.

"Stop it. I get it, you're cute, now back in your ball. It's too hot out for you," I flatly state, somehow retaining myself from hugging the cute Wooper to death. So cute, so, so cute-!

"Woopah~!" It cries as I tap the ball against its oversized head, returning it to the capsule and clicking it to my belt. Wooper swims around and around in his ball with the biggest smile, swimming a little faster in his excitement. I'm glad that for whatever reason there seems to be water in his Pokeball. I'm not going to question it, nope not at all. It's like logic decided to leave itself at the port when I landed here. I let out a sigh and trot down the boardwalk with sweat rolling over my skin. Yuck ... I need to get an outfit that's lighter than this I'm suffocating over here.

ATTICUS'S POV

My eyes scan the crowds as I make my way through the boardwalk searching for the duel haired woman. I need to find her and her Aggron. With her helping me I would have the best chance at getting my Growlithe back. And if she is here in Cherrygrove she'll most likely be here at the boardwalk since ... well, this is the main attraction of the city so chances are she's here exploring and taking in the sights. Chances are she will refuse to help me but I ... I can't help but _try_.

Men and women alike take one glance at me and quickly advert their gazes, moving out of the way with a tighter grasps on their little children's hands and Pokémon. I shrink under their glaring gazes nervously tugging on the shirt and trying to let some cooler air inside the internal sauna of an outfit. Their gazes range from anger to fear ... everything that Team Rocket has done is horrendous. How could I have ever thought working for them would free my sister?

My cheeks flush at the hardly dressed woman all around me as I try to advert my eyes. How indecent ... mutti would be going crazy right now. I often look to the ground to avoid seeing the woman but force myself to look at their hair. It was dark but I know she has long red bangs and layered black hair.

I stop short as I spy the profile of the woman looking over the ocean with a bikini on top and tight shorts with flip flops. M-Mein Gott she's just as indecent as the rest of them w-with that bikini top a-a-and skin snug jean shorts. I-I thought she's at least be more decent than the other girls here but n-now isn't the time to lose nerve. I need her help, indecent or not.

My resolve weakens as I weave through the crowd and follow her, struggling to come up with something to say to her. But m-maybe she didn't see me at the lab. It was dark and I barely caught sight of what she looked like too. But then again ... I-I'm still wearing the Team Rocket uniform.

"But ... what do I do?" I hesitate before swallowing my nervousness and walk closer to her, unsure how to strike up the conversation. After seeing what she did at the lab she might be inclined to attack me on sight when she sees the R on my chest.

JACKIE'S POV

"H-Hey you! Uh, with the red bangs!" A meek and hesitant voice calls out rather loudly. Ugh why does everyone refer to me by the color of my bangs? I glance back at the source and freeze as I spy a large R printed on the man's shirt who is making direct eye contact with me. Oh~ good hell they've found me already. I gulp and stand among the crowd, trying to decide to make a break for it or face him. With this many people around it's not like he can do anything serious. My eyes narrow as I set a hand over Bliss's ball. She may not listen to me but Bliss will never let me get hurt while she's out of her Pokeball.

" ... what do you want?" I ask, putting up a strong front as I inch to the side and out of the heavier flow of traffic. The Team Rocket grunt squeezes through the crowd and walks up to me, breathing a little hard with flushed cheeks from the heat cooking him alive. Wow this guy is young. He has to be younger than I am. And he's with Team Rocket?

"I, uh ... well, um," he sputters before scratching the back of his head, seeming taken aback. Oh there's no way he's with Team Rocket. He's too careless and insecure. Most of them are bursting with misplaced confidence. So why is he here attempting to talk to me? My eyes narrow before I catch sight of a certain Pokeball with a Sneasel inside the red transparent part of the capsule. I suck in a startled, horrified gasp at the sight. He has Sneasel?! Sneasel glances over its shoulder, his eyes growing side as he too spied me. That _is_ my Sneasel! That's why he never came back to the lab. Sneasel whips around and smacks against the side of the Pokeball, rocking it while keeping his eyes locked onto me. My head snaps back to the grunt with fury. He pokenapped _my_ Sneasel!

"What the hell are you doing with my Sneasel?!" I angrily demand, tempted to haul his butt over to the rail and throw him into the water. He jolts, startled as he takes a sheepish step back with his hands up in a surrendering motion.

"Er, well I ... ," he mumbles under his breath, making it hard to hear him. My arm shoots out, grabbing his shirt and ripping him towards me. His eyes fill with anxious apprehension as my grip tightens on the revolting uniform.

"Say it clearly, _grunt_," I growl, making him falter a bit as he gulps.

"H-He wouldn't stop attacking me and the Turtwig and it I had run he might've stabbed me from behind s-so I had to catch him." He explains, only igniting my fury further. The brief mention of Turtwig makes my immediately think of the one that tackled me before my mind turns to the real problem here.

"So you _stole_ him from me?!" I angrily accuse, stiffening as I catch some attention in the traveling crowd. I glance over the faces in the attention hungry, spying their growing unease as they watch our little confrontation. Oh boy. They call the police and they haul this idiot grunt off to jail - with my Sneasel too.

"I-I didn't steal any Pokemon. He wasn't really yours since my Pokeball was able to catch the Sneasel," the grunt retorts, clenching his trembling fists as he keeps his eyes locked onto me. He's right. Technically that Sneasel is not mine because I never caught it in a Pokeball.

The low blow strikes me hard as I recline my head slightly, glancing over the anxious looking Sneasel inside the Pokeball. How can I get my Sneasel back from this man? I could cause a scene very easily right now and he would definitely be the one to take the fall for it. But I ... I'd rather not rely on the police. With my luck they would take Sneasel with them as evidence.

Sneasel's eyes grow hard has he glares at the side of the Pokeball, flicking his head around in sharp stops before ramming it's shoulder into the side and rocking the Pokeball in the grunt's belt. My eyes travel around the growing crowd, watching people literally stop in their tracks to watch this go down. We need to go talk somewhere more private. If he really is in Team Rocket then he may be willing to make a deal and I don't want other people to hear what I'm considering on giving him.

I click my tongue to the roof of my mouth as I grab his wrist and tug him along with me without another word. The grunt resists a bit but reluctantly follows as I turn into a small gap between stores, pulling him into the back of a store where there was only a few feet of clearance from the back of the wooden shops to the railing dropping down about ten feet into a full dumpster.

"I get it and you're right. I never tried to put him in a Pokeball so technically he _is_ yours," I admit, trying to quickly think of a solution or a deal I can give him to get the Sneasel back. Why do I want the Sneasel so badly? It will probably just leave again and ... never come back the next time. I shake off the the thought and look hard at him, a plea of desperation behind my harsh defense, "I want that Sneasel. What do you want in return?" I offer, trying to figure out a reasonable bargain for the Sneasel back.  
The grunt blinks, seeming startled by my suddenly submissive attitude before his Adam's apple moves with another nervous gulp.

"Then ... come with me to Violet city," he says, plucking the Pokeball from his belt and holds it up for me to see Sneasel staring back at me through the capsule. Not in a teasing or taunting manner but rather in a proving manner. "If you can help me get my Growlithe back from the other Team Rocket grunts then I'll let you have your Sneasel back."

" ... seriously?" I groan, running a hand through my hair before glaring at him. That stinks of a trap in every sense. "What else do you want besides that? And why the hell do you want to steal from your own organization?" I roughly question with an aggravated huff, having no idea what else to do in this situation other than be intolerable and mad. My people skills really need work but a Team Rocket grunt to me is _not_ a human that deserves my respect or patience. "Is there anything else you want? Money? Here, this is all I got you theif," I growl, pulling out the money for him to physically see. I don't want to go to Violet city with this guy. He'll rob me blind and leave me with nothing!

"I don't want your money. I want my Growlithe back. They won't give me back my sister and they won't let me keep the Pokemon she gave me so I can to reclaim what's mine again," the grunt's voice falters slightly, seeing my distrusting glare. What a load of crap. Since when does Team Rocket hold people hostage and force others to work for them like this? "I-I just want my Growlithe back ... please," he pathetically pleads, seeming broken and lost. Well crap. No, no I can't feel sympathy for him. He can go to the police ... in which his file case would probably be pushed into the back of the importance list. Police can do little against an organization so large it networks the entire country. Which means if he's telling the truth he really does have no one else to turn to. My glare softens up with compassion before I cover it up with a roll of my eyes.

"And what the hell makes you think I want to mess with Team Rocket? Your buddy back at the lab incident tried to shoot me dead hardly two days ago," I snap, interesting in hearing whatever sorry excuse he could come up for that one. His expression turns into a heartbroken one making me turn my gaze away so I don't get sucked into it. I can't and I won't. It's not my problem or fault this happened to him. He did it to himself.

" ... that's how he threatened by sister into joining ... ," he quietly murmurs as he looks down at the wooden boardwalk, his grip around the Pokeball tightening out of distess, "he's not my buddy. He's some heartless Rocket grunt who will do anything for a promotion from Proton. If you don't believe me then why are you still here? He left me behind, Ms. He sacrificed me so that he could get away."

"You jumped out of the shattered window to escape while I held him down don't think I missed that," I flatly state, making him twitch at the hole in his pity story, "and no, he and his buddy did not escape. They're in Police custody now," I remark, folding my arms and waiting for his response to that one.

"So you _are_ the one with that Aggron!" He cries, his eyes glimmering with hope. I suck in a startled breath. So that's what he's after. He wants to use Bliss to break into some Team Rocket run place and steal his Growlithe back. My eyes narrow as I finally figure out what he wants.

"So what?" I ask, shifting my weight with unease. Great now he knows what are in these old fashioned Pokeballs.

"And he was taken into custody? That's great! This'll be easier to get out of Team Rocket!" The grunt smiles brightly, "besides, with powerful Pokemon like that on you who would pick a fight with you? And with that man in custody it makes getting my Growlithe back from the Rocket grunt running warehouse even easier," he breathes, getting more and more excited as he goes on, "A-And like I said, I'll give you the Sneasel if you help me get Growlithe back. Deal?"

" ... give me my Sneasel back first," I order without batting an eye. He's insane. I don't care if it's easy or hard I want nothing more to do with Team Rocket. His smiling face falters with reality setting in on him. That's right kid. Saying things is different from doing them. Breaking into a Team Rocket facility is not all cupcakes and rainbows. It's risky and dangerous.

"But ... then you might just take off with Sneasel," he reasons, his determination beginning to falter. Come on kid, face reality. Life isn't all that wonderful. Frankly, it's crap sprinkled with brief moments of satisfaction before reality slaps you in the face again. Sometimes figuratively and other times literally. I just ... why can't you understand that? I don't want to be made the bad guy here, and in the face of a Team Rocket member that's really bad on my part, but sometimes people need a splash of reality.

"And? You tell me what's stopping me from wrestling that Sneasel out from those shaky little hands of yours right here and now and leaving you to deal with your own problems." I order, weighing my options of just doing that. E-Everyone ... needs to be hit with reality. I'm telling him this now to save him the pain later of being captured by Team Rocket or worse. My heart tightly clenches and trembles, struggling to get out the words 'fine I'll help you' but my logic kicks those needs back into place. I can't and I won't. I need to think about myself too.

"If you were in my shoes you'd want help too. I need help. And I don't have a good reason that you'll care about," he shakily says, his voice riddled with desperation while his eyes exposed his defeated spirit. His eyes fall as he holds out Sneasel to me, "take it and go. If you won't help me then I'll do it myself," he finally says, his hand trembling with the Sneasel inside.

"Alright sounds good," I heartlessly say, feeling the emotions of empathy being stuffed away. I won't help him. I can't. No matter how many times I repeat the same thing in my head my heart and courage try to burst back through and force my lips to say yes and help him. No, no. I will not have my compassion getting me into trouble again. My internal war harshly conflicts with one another before my hand snaps out and grabs Sneasel, making my choice as I clip him to my belt. And now I need to leave before my stupid brain things about doing something stupid-

"Woopah~!" Wooper cries out as he breaks out of his Pokeball, leaping through the air right to the grunt.

"Wah-!" He shouts, startled as he turns away. Wooper drops to the ground before bouncing back up, locking it's toothless mouth around the grunt's Pokeball.

"Ah-! Hey, hey Wooper no," I reprimand, whipping forward to catch it but it drops to the ground. I stumble right into the grunt as he smacks into the rails, catching me in his arms as an automatic response. I growl under my breath and whip my head around, freezing as I spy a red and white ball in Wooper's mouth that contained a startled Turtwig.

"WAAAAAH give him back!" The grunt cries as I scramble towards Wooper. The small ball in Wooper's mouth nearly gives me a heart attack. He's just a baby. He doesn't know the difference between food and other things. H-He could swallow it!

"Woopah~!" It cries before dashing off into the narrow alley and heading towards the crowded boardwalk with the ball in mouth.

"No, Wooper get back here!" I shout as I lurch forward.

"Stop, that's my Turtwig!" The grunt cries as our bodies smash together in the narrow space, making us slide to a painful stop. "S-Stop moving! That Pokemon is the only thing I have to help me get Growlithe back!" The grunt cries as he tries to muscles his way past me. I turn with a glare as I elbow him in the gut, making him double over as I rush past him.

"Then you should have thought about that _before_ you joined Team Rocket!" I spit back as I stumble out from between the buildings, spying the Wooper teetering through the crowd of walking legs and crushing feet. He leans forward and totters just barely out of the way each time with his uncoordinated walking.

"Hey, hey watch where you step!" I shout into the crowd, mortified as I imagine a flattened Wooper being returned to me with an apology or shout from the person who stepped on him. My Wooper-! My hand whips around to my belt as I grab Sneasels ball, enlarging it to regular size.

"Sneasel, grab Wooper!" I frantically order as the Pokeball pops open, expelling Sneasel onto the boards. His eyes narrow in determination as he turns into the crowd and weaves through the tangle of legs with adept skill. Wow he's agile. Sneasel will definitely be able to grab Wooper. He's hardly a few days old and Sneasel is fast.

Wooper cheerfully wobbles through the crowd, coincidentally spinning with clumsy steps to avoid being stepped on. I anxiously watch and struggle to cut through the thick crowd tempted to start throwing elbows to get through them all. The ball pops out of Wooper's mouth as he perfectly balances it on his slick head, acting completely clueless as it continues to dodge the crushing shoes.

"Woopha~ woppah woopah~," it cheerfully chants with each spin, managing to avoid Sneasel's grabbing claws by hardly inches each time. Sneasel's growls grew loud as it makes for another rougher grab but Wooper dips behind a leg and weaves through the city of walking feet with mastery.

"He-Hey, hey give back my Turtwig!" The grunt cries, trying to rush by the flow of people. I look over to him and glare before pausing, noticing people shoving him out of the way rather aggressively before one guy grabs the front of his shirt and roughly slams him against the side of a shop.

"The hell is Team Rocket doing here? You here to steal some more Pokémon? Huh?" He angrily demands, picking the boy right off his feet and roughly shaking him. The grunt's fingers tremble as he clutches the aggressor's hands, hyperventilating in his grasp. Without thinking twice I dart through the crowd of bodies towards them.

"Hey, that's enough!" I shout, falling in between him and shoving both of their chests away. "Back off buddy. This idiot is with me-,"

"WAAAAAAHH WOOPER NO, STOP!" The grunt practically screams as my focus shifts, spying Wooper in a clearing of people and popping the Pokeball into the air with its mouth wide open to receive.

Oh no.

* * *

"I'm sorry to say but we don't perform that kind of surgery here in Cherrygrove." The nurse behind the counter at the Pokecenter concludes after a long spleal about being unable to help with their current funds and why.

"How the hell can you call yourself a Pokecenter if all you can say is 'I'm sorry'?!" I angrily demand, slapping my hands against the counter as I feel myself getting worked up. Oh no, oh no oh no this can't be happening! If that ball expands while it's in Wooper's belly all of its internal organs will be messed up. Just pushing his stomach the wrong way will literally kill my Pokémon! "Look, look you've got to help me. How am I supposed to help my Wooper now?" I plead, struggling to think of how this situation could possibly have a happy ending. Everything I can think of ends up with Wooper exploding. Despite my frantic and aggressive attitude the woman kept a rather calm yet firm atmosphere about her.

"Again I am truly sorry that we cannot help your Wooper here but there is a branch in Violet city that performs such surgeries on baby Pokémon that have swallowed something other than food," she says as the grunt beside me lets out an almost silent relieved sigh.

"So the one in violet city will help?" He anxiously asks, sounding almost glad that there's a good possibility my Wooper is going to die somewhere between here and Violet city. Or, the more likely, that I now have to travel with him there since it was his Turtwig that my Wooper consumed. I offer him a glare before gasping in horror, seeing him gently holding Wooper and lightly poking Wooper's belly. Ignorant to what a dangerous predicament it is in Wooper smiles and wiggles in his gentle grasp, letting out pleased purring sounds that almost sounds like laughter.

"Woo~pah woo~pah~," it delightfully cries, flailing it's little feet and tosses it's head back in laughter and rolls around on his hand without a care in the world. My arm shoots forward, roughly his shirt and yanking him right up to my furious gaze.

"What the hell are you trying to do make my Wooper explode?! What if your next poke expands the Pokeball in its stomach a-and-!" I stammer off, unable to finish my sentence with the horrendous images that began popping up in my head. No, no not my baby Wooper! It took forever to catch and gosh dang it he's just too adorable to let go!

"Exploding? Oh don't be so silly!" The nurse gently reprimands with a small laugh, "Pokeballs nowadays are made so that when they are in too moist of an environment, for example being underwater or in this case, Wooper's tummy, the ball is designed to remain compact and sealed. The safety measures were put into the Pokeballs a few years ago after complaints about Pokeballs opening underwater," she kindly explains with the patience of a saint as she reaches forward and gently tickles Wooper's belly

"R-Really?" I thankfully breath, relaxing at her encouraging words but still tense at the fact Wooper swallowed a Pokeball - with another Pokemon inside of it.

"Yes, so your cute Wooper is not in any danger at the moment. Of course, prolonged lodgment will begin to cause discomfort and pain but he will be perfectly fine for a few days, perhaps even a week. Baby Woopers don't often need to eat since the get much of their nutrients from the water since they can't yet digest real food. Here," she says, dipping under the counter and fingering through a few packages out of sight before coming back up with a decent sized brown paper bag with a Wooper's face on it. "This is baby Wooper formula. Keep him in a container of water during your trip to Violet city and use this as instructed. Don't put him back in the Pokeball since Pokeballs will not shrink like Pokemon will," she warns with a cheerful smile despite what those consequences would mean for Wooper. A shiver crawls down my spine at the frightening thought as the Team Rocket grunt intervened.

"A-And what about Turtwig?" He nervously asks, making the nurse take a small subtle step away from him but amazingly kept up her professional appearance.

"He will be perfectly fine as well. He is safe inside that Pokeball. He may be a little fatigued after finally being let out but he will be perfectly fine after a little time out of his ball," she reassures him with a smile.

"That's good," the grunt breathes, sounding genuinely relieved at the news.

"Yup! I suggest you start for Violet city as soon as you can though. It's supposed to storm in about two or three days," the Nurse instructs, sending a frightened shiver down my spine. Oh _hell_ to the no-! I quickly grab the back and cradle Wooper in my arm, turning around to leave.

"Come on, grunt. We're leaving." I firmly state as I hurry out of the Pokecenter and onto the sidewalk, determined to get some sort of transportation to Violet city and find a bowl for Wooper. My eyes scan the variety of stores locking onto a Pokestore with toys and other things essential to raising Pokemon and traveling. Perfect.

"H-Hey, wait up for me," the grunt calls, walking out onto the sidewalk beside me.

"Go get a bike, grunt. I want to get to get to Violet city as fast as we can," I tell him, spying the bike shop conveniently next to the store I need to go in.

"What?! D-Do you have any idea how much a bike costs?" The grunt breathes, shocked at my order. My eyes narrow as I turn to him, seeing him flinch slightly.

"You're lucky I don't leave you and take your Turtwig with me. After all, I found it before you did. I just didn't have the chance to capture it as with my Sneasel." I explain as Sneasel gives a sharp nod with a sneering grin, folding his arms as the threateningly looks over the grunt. "Hey, Sneasel, no getting cocky." I say, tapping his side with my foot and watching his expression turn a little more thoughtful with a disappointed frown.

"Y-You're as bad as Team Rocket!" The grunt accuses, his face red with fright at the empty threat. But then again, it's not that empty of a threat. I weigh my options again, a little hurt at his accusation.

"And who's wearing the uniform?" I shoot back, watching his eyes widen slightly as he sucks in a fast breath, tightly gripping his fists.

"I'm not like them ... I never wanted to be them. If I were, I wouldn't have come looking for you to give you back your Sneasel!"

"But you did, softie," I insult, feeling the insulting words rolling off my tongue without really thinking about it. Why am I being so mean right now? He hasn't done anything physically to hurt me but I ... I'm lashing out at him. I'm lashing out at him with all the disdain I have for all Team Rockets and it's not right. But I feel like I can't stop the abuse until I get it all out. "Now go get a bike. I'm going to get a ball for Wooper so he doesn't dry out." I sharply retort, heading over to the Pokestore that has a Rattata ball displayed in the front window.

I walk into the store knowing exactly what I wanted. My eyes scan the shelves as I search for the water proof Rattata ball, spying one among the shelves that would be a good fish bowl for Wooper for the time being. I pluck it off the shelves and grab some thin but strong Nylon rope and head to the counter, setting the things on the counter for purchase.

"Find everything to your pleasure?" The older man asks with a cheerful grin as I pull out the money and take out the appropriate amount for him.

"Yeah, just fine," I say a little too harshly before letting out a brief sigh and a weak smile to the friendly elder, "sorry, it's been a not so fun day for me," I explain, leaving it at just that as he rings up the objects.

"Tell me about it." He encourages, deciding to make small talk as the price pops up on the screen.

"That's alright, I've already figured it out," I lie, handing him the money before taking another look at the ball, acting like I'm distracted, "and this is guaranteed water proof?"

"Yup! Guaranteed to keep the water out."

"What about in?" I ask, setting the thin rope and rubber gloves onto the counter.

"In?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Woopah~ woo~pah woopah~," Wooper cheerfully chants as he bobs up and down in the Rattata ball.

"Stop being so happy Wooper." I sigh, surprised to hear the chants stop. Wow, he actually listened to me? Well either that or it was bumped right out of the bike's basket. The thought alone gives me a frightened shiver as I anxiously look over the grunt's shoulder. "Wooper?"

" ... woo~pah~ woo~pah~ woopha woo~~pah~~," he more enthusiastically chants. Ugh. I swink back down into the back seat, holding onto the grunt and using him as an anchor to hold me on the bike. So annoying ... but if I try to think positively he's basically my slave in pedaling us all the way to Violet city.

... no even then it's hard to think this situation in a positive light.

The bike jerks up and down from the fast pedaling of the grunt and the grunt alone. He can go ahead and use all of his energy here. After all, if it comes right down to it, all he needs to do is point out where the warehouse is holding all the Pokemon and I will go in and swipe all the Growlithes. I've seen how the more experienced grunts treat their younger companions and, well, they are all jerks. And since I'm a fairly natural cold and distant person I should be fine.

A small purr rumbles from Sneasel's chest as he sets his head on my shoulder and cuddles up against with little warning, almost begging to steal some of my attention. I reach up with a warm smile and pet his head, listening to his rumbling hums of satisfaction. Cute~ wait. Dang it Sneasel, why did you have to go and prove me wrong so fast? His eyes slide over to me and almost cheekily grins as he holds onto my shoulders, standing on the very tip of the back seat. Stubborn Pokémon not liking being in his ball. But that's fine, I guess. Just more weight for the grunt to pedal with.

"I don't really know how...hhff...long it'll take to get us to Violet City... Hhff... maybe a few hours? I don't know...hahh..." He pants as he continues pedaling.

"Then keep pedaling, Poochyena." I heartlessly order as I hold onto his broad shoulders to support myself through a slightly bumpier stretch in the path.

"My name is Atticus," he huffs. I ignore him and look off to the side. Atticus? What kind of name is that? Atticus lets out a sigh and continues pedaling, obviously holding his tongue back at my venomous attitude. Yeah I'm being pretty ruthless right now but I don't really care about his feelings at the moment. I have my own things to worry about.

"Woopah~" Atticus blinks away, seeing the Wooper staring at him with a smile. "Woopah~!"

"Yeah, I'll try to make the ride as smooth as possible for you, Wooper." Atticus answers, trying to make small talk with the baby Pokemon since it was the only friendly living thing on the bike other than himself. Which was true.

I'm annoyed that he is talking to my Wooper like that but it's not like he is harming it. I let out a faint huff and turn my gaze to the sky, worried about this storm the nurse warned us about before we left. If it's rain I can handle it but if it is more ... I grit my teeth and shake off the thought, looking ahead as Atticus continued to pedal.

"Woopaaaah~" Wooper happily cries as I look up, seeing a fork in the rood. Atticus softly laughs at the Wooper and takes his hand off the left handle bar to gently pat its head.

"The left will take us to the correct path to Violet City and the right is to the Dark Cave," Atticus explains between huffs as he gently steers the bike to the left, only for Wooper to jump out of the Ratatta ball and land on his right hand, steering the bike to the right with a happy smile. "Wooper-!"

"WHOA-!" I shout as I constrict my arms around Atticus's chest, pulling his weight back up after it shifted too hard to the left to equal out the weight. Both of our eyes widen with horror at the sharp steep drop of the path before us. "Brakes, brakes-!" I cry but momentum and speed had another plan as we shot down the steep hill side. Screams of terror fill the air of both us and Sneasel with a Wooper happily jumping back into the rattata ball. Wooper, how could you-?!

"GAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Make it stop make it stop-!" I shout as I spy the sharp turn at the bottom of the hill. Who in their right mind would put that sharp of a turn there?!

"Wooooooooopaaaaaah!" Wooper cries as we burst through the foliage and catapulted right into the air over a fast moving river. My eyes widen with horror and disbelief as we dropped through the air and into the water.

"AUUUUGGH!"

"Wooper you son of a-!"

* * *

"I can't believe it ... we ended up all the way back in Cherrygrove." I heavily breathe as me and Atticus begin walking to our destination with a change of dry clothes. Thank goodness I sealed all my stuff in waterproof bags for the most part. Unfortunately I didn't do that for the egg but it doesn't seem damaged by the trip from hell which is relieving. In all that commotion the bike was lost to the jaws of the river but thank goodness I was able to throw Wooper back into the Rattata ball before losing it forever.

"This sucks..." the grunt murmurs under his breath, holding tight to his bag.

"Hey, it's your fault," I glare as Atticus gives me a blank stare for the unreasonable pointing of fingers. Good hell I'm childish but I'm too pissed too to care.

"You know it as well as I know that it was all Wooper's fault." He huffs. I wonder how long can he take it before he snaps and just lets it all go?

" ... you didn't hold the bars tight enough," I retort, setting a hand over the water filled Rattata ball that Wooper is currently having a blast swimming around in. Now I feel like I am defending my baby when he makes accusations like that. Yes he did something bad but it's not like I can punish him for it. He's too stupid to know what the punishment is for in the first place.

"You would still blame me even if you were pedaling instead of me." Atticus sighs as he massages his shoulder, continuing to walk alongside me but keeps a good distance between us.

By this time night is beginning to set over the path, gradually getting darker until I can barely see much further than a quarter of a mile in the darkness. The moon does little to light the way since it is a fairly cloudy night, furthering my fears that a storm may be coming soon.

"Ugh ... we need to stop and camp. It's dangerous at night," Atticus groans.

"No, let's continue," I stiffly respond. My feet ache and stickle me with needles, begging for a little bit of rest. At this point I can hardly feel my legs with all the walking we've had to do. We aren't even halfway to the point we were thrown off the road.

"Jackie..." he trails off, taking in a deep breath, "If you keep going you'll get caught with the storm and put you and your Pokémon in danger. At least take a break until the storm past." He pleads, deciding to go at this logically and appeal to my emotional sense for my Pokémon. Not that it will help because my emotional state is already in a complete train wreck and though I realize it I can't stop it.

"Or we could make it to Violet city and find a hotel room." I quickly snap, unable to stop lashing out at him. No matter how calm I try to make myself I end up snapping and insulting him. Besides I would rather take the chance of making it to Violet city than see if it's just rain or carries something worse with the storm.

"We'll never make it to Violet City. It'll take until morning to get there. And the storm would be over by then. Maybe." Atticus sighs before shrugging, probably giving up on trying to talk me out of walking all the way there.

"Then we can walk there. The nurse said it would hit in two or three days s-so there's a chance this is just ... a little of what's to come," I irrationally reason, hopeful that there wasn't anything else other than rain in this storm. Unless ... there was a sudden strong wind that's pushing it faster here ... no, no! The world isn't that cruel!

... oh I'm screwed.

"Alright then, Jackie." Atticus say, deciding to take a more submitting role in this short adventure together. My heart nearly stops as I feel a few sprinkles of water on my face, feeling fear grip my heart as my breath stutters. Oh no. No, please don't start raining now.

"Did you feel that?" Atticus asks, looking up to the sky.

"Nope." I say, popping the P as I continue on and feel more drips falling onto her face. Never before have I wished that this was a Pidgey's doing this and not the clouds. No ... I know all too well what comes with the rain and storm and I am terrified of Atticus finding out. I've been so mean to him and no doubt all of that will come lashing back at me with the jokes playing off my fears.

The raindrops, which I refuse to acknowledge them as, make Sneasel grimace in annoyance. I look straight ahead and ignore his obvious stares as if asking why I don't want to stop and camp to stay dry. Sneasel grabs at my pant leg but I rip free of its claws, stubbornly continuing as my fingers shake with fear. I don't want to stop. I can't. Sneasel makes some disapproving growls as he hops up too my side again and grabs my leg, obviously annoyed that I'm ignoring him. Stop, Sneasel ... please.

"Woo~ woopah~," Wooper smiles as his muffled cries of joy reverberate through the water filled Rattata ball in reaction to the rain picking up. My pace slows as I realize my horrors are coming true. It really is going to storm and Atticus is going to see me at my weakest. I shiver with the stronger drafts of winds blowing in, coming to a complete stop.

"Let's ... look for a good tree. Or preferably a cave," I say, thinking back to a few places that might work that aren't too far away. Atticus lets out a smile in relief as I whip around and toss the tarps his way. He stumbles back as he grasps the large sheets of plastic before looking to me in confusion.

"Never mind, there aren't any caves nearby. Now make the tent and fast or it'll be your fault if Sneasel and I get sick." I irrationally accuse once again, watching his jaw drop at me ridiculous spoiled attitude as I wait for a sharp retort of him leaving or giving up on me.

Atticus, amazingly, keeps his mouth shut like a good grunt and walks over to the base of a well rooted tree with thick roots, tossing the large tarp over the roots to make a doorless shelter before staking the corners and edges to the tree to keep it in place. I shiver and walk over as the wind begins to pick up, setting another tarp down on the ground for the flooring before holding down the last corner for Atticus to nail in the spike. I may be an emotional jerk right now but I'm not a complete imbecile. If these aren't tacked up right I'll just end up getting wet again.

After he nails in the spike he glances over and motions for Sneasel to go inside the tent to get dry along with me. I let out a faint sigh of relief, sitting down and enjoying the weight being taken off my feet for a nice long rest. Atticus slips into the more like canopy than a tent, crawling to the other side and claiming his own little corner.

I shiver and set Wooper's ball aside next to my bag before pulling out a change of clothes. Lucky for me the roof is high enough to stand in so I do just that, squeezing out my hair near the outside before peeling off the wet clothes. At this point and time I really, really don't care what he sees. Sneasel would kick the crap out of him if I let him anyway. However my paranoia gets the better of me as I glance over my shoulder, spying his back to my and his nose firmly planted in a corner. Oh ho~ good boy.

I slip into my dry clothes and perk up as I hear a faint crackling. My eyes are drawn back to where he's sitting as I take my own seat on my side of the shelter, watching Sneasel tap Atticus on the shoulder and hold out his claw to him. Without argument he hands over the bar with a faint sight. Sneasel grins and takes the bar, licking the corner to taste it before taking a small bite out of it. Weak ...

"Don't you have a change of clothes?" I ask, noticing he's still in his wet clothes as I lay my wet clothes out to dry in the corner of the canopy-like shelter.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry. I've gone through worse than this." Atticus assures me, pausing before rummaging through his bag. "Do you want one of these energy bars?"

" ... sure. And here, you need to get changed into something at least dry. I have some baggy sweats you can wear." I offer, not wanting him to get sick. A distant boom in the distance makes my blood run cold as I shakily inhale, feeling the paralyzing sensations beginning to seep through my body. N-No, it's far off. There's a chance it will skip us.

"Here," I coldly hiss to cover up my frightened trembling, tossing the pants his way before sitting down and intensely staring at the bark of the root, feeling my fingers trembling with horror. Relax ... just relax. I take deep breaths, trying to calm myself despite my growing fears.

"Uh, I have clothes. Don't worry about me. Ah, here. It's chocolate," he holds the bar out to me out of the corner of my eyes.

"I-I'm fine. Go back to your side of the tent." I huff, taking deep, slow breaths as I intently stare at the tree to try to distract myself. He pulls his hand with the bar back, staring at me before trudging back to his side of the tent.

I struggle to be as quiet as I can manage as the thunderous crashes grow louder and closer. N-N-No ... no, please. Not here, not now. Sneasel walks up to my side, staring at me as it munches on the bar and sits down. Out of the corner of my eyes I spy him curiously staring up at my tightly clenched teeth and wide, frenzied eyes. He takes another bite of the bar, his gaze unrelenting in trying to get it to look at him.

Boooooooom!

I suck in a fast breath and stare at the bark, seeing the sky light up with a flash of lightning before growing dark. Tears roll down my cheeks as I continue to breathe in and out a little faster, refusing to look Sneasel in the eye as he hooks his claws around my arm and lightly shakes for my attention. I-I can't move. I want to, I want to look at my Sneasel but if I move she'll find me, _she'll find me-!_

BOOOM! BOOM! CRASH!

ATTICUS'S POV

Sneasel's faint cries and agitated whines catch my attention as I glance over my shoulder, seeing Jackie hunched over slightly. Is she, uh, alright? Sneasel lets out a few concerned cries, bouncing Jackie's knee up and down and pulling on her arm but she hardly reacts.

"Jackie?" I ask, starting to get concerned. Why is she ignoring Sneasel like that? And she's so tense that her shoulders are literally turning pale from the bunched muscles. I get up and walk over to her, expecting to get yelled at but she remains still as stone. The closer I approach the more I see her shoulders trembling and hear her quieted, pained whines slipping out between tightly clenched teeth.

"Jackie, hey Jackie?" I say, crouching down beside her and jolting back as I see her face. Her eyes were wild and frenzied with fear as her arms harshly shook, knuckles pale as bone from how tightly she's clenching them. "Hey, hey Jackie!"

BOOOM!

"EEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!" Jackie shrieks at the top of her lungs, protecting her head with her arms as she puts her head against her knees and begin to incoherently sob her fright. I take a double take at her clearly traumatized looking form, shocked at the stark difference from just minutes ago to this. Another crackle of thunder makes her loose another frightened sobbing scream. S-She's screaming... I don't know what to do. What is she afraid of? Sneasel continued to tug at Jackie, concerned for his trainer. What am I doing sitting here watching? Jackie's afraid. She needs comfort.

"Jackie, it's okay. Nothing bad will happen to you," I reassure her as I gently place my arms around her in a hug. It's the best I can do in this situation, even if she is revolted by me. "Sneasel and I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Another crash of thunder makes her scream once again, her fingers shaking horribly and turn the bleakest of whites from the strength she's using to clutch her head in her fear. Her fright deeply unnerves me as I swallow my unease. She was a jerk earlier but now she needs help. And ... she's helping me find Growlithe. But I'm helping her because she needs help.

"It's okay, it's okay... No one will hurt you. Relax. Focus on something other than the thunder." I gently soothe her as I rub her back with relaxing circles. I will stay up all night until I can coax her into falling asleep. If only I had something to block the sound of the storm for Jackie's ears like earplugs. So instead he pulls her into a hug and covers her ears, making her hide her head in his shoulder to prevent her from seeing the bright flashes outside.

"It's okay. It'll be over soon. It'll be fine." Atticus urges, rocking Jackie very gently, hoping the rhythm would soothe her. It probably won't but he can't help but try the remedy that worked for his sister. Glancing over to Sneasel who never took his eyes off of Jackie, Atticus smiles, hugging Jackie a bit tighter to protect her.

"You're safe."


	8. Chapter 8

"Thank you! Your Wooper will be healed right up peachy fine here." Nurse Joy says with a broad smile, taking the little Wooper in hand. "You may wait for Wooper in the waiting room," she offers before turning and walking into the back with the cheerfully chanting Wooper in hand. Another part time nurse steps forward, offering to guide us into the waiting room.

"Come with me," she politely asks, her complexion a little pale and her fingers trembling from no doubt the grunt in uniform right beside me.

"Will he be alright?" I anxiously ask, planning on getting every detail of the procedure from this woman since Nurse Joy left before I could ask.

"And my Turtwig inside the Pokeball?" Atticus nervously adds, catching the nurse's attention over my concern.

"Of course! This is a common occurrence with Woopers, particularly young ones. Please take caution next time," she says as more of a warning, keeping up a smiling face.

"Yeah, it won't happen again." I reassure. Of course I will keep a closer eye on the baby Wooper. After all he's my Pokémon and my responsibility. Sneasel trots alongside me as we head to the waiting room. I heavily plop down with deep rings under my eyes, too tired to say anything else. That storm last night exhausted me. My sharp eyes turn to Atticus who sat on the opposite side of the hall, deciding to direct his gaze towards the door in the duration of the wait.

And he saw every last bit. I don't remember what I screamed in my terror or said but he hasn't said one word about it the entire time here. Is he just pretending he didn't see me lose my mind over a little thunder or prolonging the silence? His comforting words 'you're safe' really struck me hard. I can't remember what else really happened but those words echoed in my ears for a long time. It was just ... nice to hear that instead of a threat.

Sneasel lithely hops onto the cushioned bench and grabbed my arm, wobbling a bit as he adjusts himself on the cushion. He looks down, taking great interest in the plush surface beneath his feet.

I decide to concentrate on Sneasel, watching as his eyes burst with interest and awe at the odd surface. He hesitantly reaches down, barely touching the surface before leaping back off the bench. He smoothly lands on his feet, completely baffled by the cushion.

... pffft ... I guess he's never really seen a cushion before.

I reluctantly chuckle and smile at his ignorance, leaning forward and resting my head on my hand as I tap the seat next to me in an almost teasing manner. He's too funny. Sneasel's long slender red ear twitches as he gets a little lower to the ground. A playful smile crosses his furry lips and his eyes get playfully wider as he treats the bench like some sort of strange prey. Ooh~ it looks like it's on now. He circles around to the other side, his three feather like tails tensing up and standing straight up in a sort of moving gesture.

My gaze turns up towards the grunt as he stares at the sign, obviously refusing to look at me. I'll bet he thinks I'm weak and pathetic after seeing me like that in the storm. Or maybe that's his face when he's struggling to hold in a burst of laughter at my irrational fear. UGH! This suspense is so annoying!

... oh this is just pissing me off the more I think about it.

"Hey, A-grunt. Tell me about the warehouse." I say, almost slipping and calling his name. No, I won't call him by his name because I'll just start getting attached to him as a friend. Which he is _not,_ brain, not at all. The second he finds his Growlithe he's going to leave and that's fine with me. I stubbornly slouch on the bench, watching as Sneasel leaps into the air with his arms widely spread, belly flopping against the bench before his head shoots up and looks to the doors with twitching ears.

I look up to the door, spying the Nurse Joy walking in with Wooper cheerfully sitting on a metal tray and looking all around the room with a broad open smile. I worriedly hop onto my feet with horror stuck in my throat. That was way too fast for surgery. Did they look inside and find something fatal?

"There we go! All healed up and ready to go," she cheerfully smiles as she holds out the tray to me. I blink, startled before eagerly grabbing Wooper and holding it in my hands.

"Seriously? So the Pokeball is out?" I anxiously ask, hesitating before pushing against its plush belly to feel nothing hard under the surface, just more of its mush.

"Yup," she says, taking the Turtwig Pokeball and handing it over to Atticus's eager hands before turning back to me, "it's a simple procedure really. All we had to do was make the baby burp up the Pokeball." She explains, softly rubbing two fingers on the top of Wooper's soft head, making it lean back on its tail and cheerfully kick it's legs around with the broadest smile across its face.

"That's a relief." I breathe, rubbing my thumb over Wooper's belly and making it excitedly wriggle around.

"For future reference if Wooper swallows something it's not supposed to it will come up easily if you press here in the tail just for future references," nurse Joy cheerfully explained showing Jackie where to pinch on the tail, "massaging its feet and rubbing Wooper's back will help expel gas that builds up in its stomach. Be sure to do that every once in a while to keep your Wooper in prime and cheerful condition." She helpfully explains and makes me realize just how little I know about caring for baby Pokemon. Oh man ... and with another one on the way inside the egg in my bag I really need to start reading up on this stuff.

"And my Turtwig?" Atticus asks, examining his Turtwig inside the ball.

"Fit as a fiddle." The nurse smiles, reassuring Atticus and making him thankfully smile. Great, and with that done all we need to do is go to the warehouse. My smile falters. I can't being this baby there or the egg with me. Nurse Joy turns to leave but I manage to catch her arm.

"Could you please keep Wooper here for overnight examination? A-And this too," I say, pulling out the egg from the bag. I almost forgot about this little guy with everything that's been happening.

"Oh? What egg is this?" She asks, taking it without question as she looks it over.

"No idea. My ... friend gave it to me and didn't tell me what was inside," I explain, not feeling like going through the whole explanation with her, "but I haven't been able to take it somewhere for a check up until now. Could this facility do that?"

"Why, it can but it's unnecessary for Wooper," she says before lighting up with a soft breath, "very well, we will keep your Wooper and egg here for the time being to watch them. Be sure to come back tomorrow and pick them up morning." The nurse kindly says, "may I have Wooper's Pokeball?"

"Yeah," I say, reaching onto my belt and giving the ball to her.

"Thank you and we look forward to your next visit." She gently smiles before returning to the back rooms where the Pokémon are held. The moment the doors shut I whip my head to Atticus who flinched slightly under my sharp gaze.

"Get me a grunt's uniform."

* * *

"This is the warehouse where the Pokémon Team Rocket steal is stored," Atticus directs, pointing to the back entrance where only one grunt is standing guard.

"And they only have one person guarding the back entrance?" I doubtfully state as I look at him. I swear to hell if this is a trap I'm blowing this entire place up with this idiot inside. But then again he doesn't seem quite smart enough to lead me into a trap.

"A lot of the new grunts slack off. I'm sure they are around the corner playing cards or something." Atticus explains as he studies the grunt with unease. My eyes slide over to my target, making sure no one is around before standing up and putting on a mean face - or basically, all the frustration and anger I've had for the past week written all over my face.

Well, time to put my 'city voice' to good use.

"HEY!" I sharply bark, making Atticus jump as I openly stomping down the alley way towards the grunt. The grunt's head snaps toward me, looking startled and slightly scared at my presence. "What the hell do you think you're doing slacking off here? And where the hell is the other grunt?" I sharply demand as I walk up to him, not caring if Atticus followed or not.

"M-Ma'am?! Ah-uh-! He's on break! Or something, I don't know!" He answers as I click my tongue, glaring at him. "A-Anyway, who are you?"

"A grunt of your degree has no right to know," I say, walking right up to him with no sense of fear in my eyes and looking right up at the taller grunt, "now open this door for me. I have direct orders to enter this establishment and examine the Pokémon you are keeping here. The branch in Ecutreak is in need of fire types so I am here to pick them up."

"I'll need you to give me a Team Rocket identification card to show me if you're a higher rank or proof of direct orders from the higher uppers." The Grunt stammers, causing me to freeze. Oh man, this one is actually smart. And I doubt Atticus is a higher rank than this lazing oaf.

"_Excuse_ me?" I gasp, acting insulted that he would dare ask me that. My hand snaps up, hooking my two fingers into his nose and forcing him down to my eye level. His eyes widen as I hear him audibly gulp from the startling grab. "You think you have the right to ask me that? I am here on official business and if a grunt like you dares to start acting up to someone like _me_ there's trouble, you got it?" I hiss, casting a glance at his belt before haughtily snorting, "don't you like having Pokémon decorating your waist? You want me to take those and give them to some other grunt and leave you at the lowest of the low for grunts? I will make you lower than dirt you ugly sack of flesh," I sadistically grin, really starting to get on a roll as I daringly unhook his belt and hold his Pokémon away from him in a childish manner, "you open up that door for me this instant or you will never get another single Pokémon during your time here with Team Rocket. I'll see to that one myself." I growl, letting his nose go and wiping my fingers on his shirt, "so what's it going to be, pretty eyes?" I laugh, folding my arms and staring confidently into his clearly shaken form.

"Ri-Right away!" He squeaks, hurrying to the door and going to the padlock, placing the key inside and turning it. The second it unlocks with a heavy click he pulls it off and opens it for me. "Here you are ... p-please forgive me."

"Good Poochyena," I coo before waving his Pokeballs in the air, "I will return these after I get what we came for, _grunt_." I wave on for Atticus to come out. Atticus quickly stumbles into the alley way, walking in with his head held low and not daring to look at the other grunt.

"Y-Yes ma'am." The grunt shakily nods, not daring to ask me anything else. With a flip of my hair I turn into the warehouse, leaving the door cracked open for us to leave later. Oh so subtly I step inside, wedging a small rock into the crack so it can't be slammed shut in case something goes down. Always have an exit. That's what my brother always used to say. I let out a faint sigh and shake my mind away from him as I start looking into the cages for a Growlithe.

"Alright now let's go find those fire types," I say, walking along the walls of cages Pokémon. Disgusting ... I can't believe people really do this. Sneasel quietly walks alongside me, gripping my pant leg as he looked up and around at all the cages. I lean down a little and comfortingly pat his head before continuing my search.

"Right." Atticus nods, trying not to look at the caged Pokémon. His Adam's apple rolls up and down as he nervously swallows, walking towards the back corner of the wareouse. I follow behind him, noticing grunts here and there walking about but hardly pay us any attention. These people are just plain idiots but then again they don't expect to be infiltrated when they are usually the ones with spies everywhere. Hurrying, Atticus steps over to the fire Pokemon section and looks around inside the cages. "Hey, buddy? Where...where are you?"

I walk all down the aisles glancing at the sad and frightened faces on the Pokémon. If I set them all free then in there panic they could escape. Of course some would get recaptured but a good percentage has the chance to get away. But that's only if things start to go bad. Right now they were perfectly fine.

"Ah!" Atticus cries out as he rushes to a cage, gripping the wire mesh that separated him from the Pokémon inside. I step over to him seeing an exhausted Growlithe curled up in a ball, battered and bruised as if it had gone through several battles with a careless grunt.

"Growlithe! It's me! Atticus! I'm getting you out of here! Mein Gott what the hell did they do to you?" Atticus panics as he pulls out a knife, cutting through the wired mesh with a struggle.

"Hey, be quiet." I say, feeling my chest get a little lighter with relief that the Growlithe seems to be alright. I watch as he carelessly nicks his hands with the cutting blade before he pulls the mesh back and gently picks up the whimpering Growlithe, cradling the fire Pokémon in his arms. "Growlithe? Growlithe?"

"Hey, hey Atticus put that in a ball," I snap under my breath, keeping an eye out for anyone walking into the back. "And keep your voice down."

"R-Right.." Atticus says, shrinking back and pulling out a Pokeball. "I promise to take you somewhere safe and heal you back up, Growlithe." The red light gently hits the whimpering Growlithe, returning the Pokémon to its Pokeball.

"And what have we here? Some thieves in the warehouse?" A cool and collected voice scoffs, sending a shiver down my spine. Crap-! No, no just act like I run the place and I'll be fine. I turn around to face the man in black suit and funny looking greenish blue hair. I hardly take the fact his clothes are a little different into account as I glare at him. A grunt can wear what he wants but he's still a grunt.

"Don't interrupt, grunt. We are here to transfer some fire types to the Ecutreak branch," I flippantly say, turning away from him to examine a Charmander in the back of the cage, "this one will do nicely," I take the ball attached to the corner of the cage and suck the Charmander right up, clicking it to the belt I swiped off the grunt outside. Just keep acting, just keep acting.

"Uh...Jackie...Jackie...!" Atticus whispers in a near panic, almost too quiet for me to hear.

"Ecutreak is in need of fire type Pokemon? That's odd since they are the ones who deal with the tower and nothing else." The man says, tapping is chin as he eyes up the belts on my waist.

"What are you an idiot? They are for the grunts there." I sharply retort, sucking a Vulpix into its Pokeball and adding it next to the Charmander on the belt. "How can a system run well when the grunts there are only given weak and pathetic Pokémon? Yes there is strength in numbers but if the quality of the Pokemon are weak then all you have is a chain of command with pathetically weak links that will snap, breaking the system and adding to the messes for people like me to clean up," I harshly explain, taking another Vulpix before facing them man with a hand on my hip, "so if your fine with being pathetically weak then that's your officer's problem. I'm here to make sure my branch doesn't end up in some city dump like this one," I haughtily huff, pushing past him and looking along the wall of other fire types.

"You? So you're saying you have a commanding role in Ecutreak? Now that's interesting," the man says, keeping Atticus in his sights. He examines the pokeballs on my waist probably checking out what Pokemon I have on me, " ... now where did you get these?" He asks, tapping a finger against a silver ball. My hand whips around and catches his finger, bending his back and surprising him but he keeps a cool face throughout. I guess I need to be a little tougher on this one.

"Don't touch me, grunt. You're lucky I don't confiscate your Pokémon and leave you lower than the dirt," I coldly state, letting his finger go to suck up a Magby into its Pokeball and click it to the belt.

"Oh, is that so?" He hums, particularly amused with a growing angry glare in his eye. Ok ... ok why is he not freaking out at all? He must be a more experienced grunt. "Well that is some awfully nice advice but seeing as I am _the_ Executive to the Team Rocket chain of command. I do believe it is _you_ who is beneath me." He says as a sadistic sneer curls his lips up.

"Oh really? Well I - BALL KICK!" I shout, whipping my leg up between his legs and see his face crumple into excruciating pain as I shove my shoulder against him. My fingers hook around his Pokémon belt and rip it off as I dance back, watching as he drops to his knees while cradling his precious area.

"J-Jackie! Y-Y-You just-?!" Atticus starts with a mortified expression before I whip around with a glare. Now this man knows my name because of this doofus!

"Go lock the door to the rest of the building so no one else gets in here," I snap as I hook Proton's belt around my waist with his Pokémon their balls, looking completely clueless as to what's going on. I'll bet he stole these Pokémon for himself.

"R-Right!" Atticus squeaks before running off to do just that. As quickly as I can I begin to open the cages, my plan now shattered to pieces. Well it was going perfectly until this idiot came and messed it up.

"B-B****," he groans, grabbing a cage to help himself up after the brutal hit. His hand instinctively reached for his Pokémon and grasped nothing but air. His eyes widen before snapping up to my waist, turning to anger as he saw that I had his Pokémon.

"You-,"

"Sneasel," I call, watching as Sneasel stepped between us with a large grin, flexing his claws as though to make a show of them as he eagerly grinned at the man.

"Don't say a word," I order, unlocking the cages at a faster pace and literally reaching in to some to pull the frightened Pokémon out, "this Sneasel would be more than happy to put you through hell and back." I flatly say, drifting my gaze over Sneasel's slightly torn ear before continuing.

"Ah ... ha, ha ha. So that grunt didn't kill him like I ordered." The man haughtily grins as deep laughter continues to rivet up his throat and spill out of his curled lips. My blood froze as I stare at him, listening to more and more cages unlocking probably from Atticus's hand. "Hey, if you're planning on stealing those Pokémon from me then you're going to want this. I'm more impressed than angry you were able to sneak into this warehouse branch." He laughs, reaching into his back pocket and slowly pulls out a small case. "Catch," he suavely orders, tossing the case my way. My hand whips out and catches it, staring at the button inside of the little flip case.

" ... what is it?" I ask, glancing over my shoulder to make sure no straggling grunts were in the area.

"A training tool. I figured I might as well give it to you since you are obviously taking away my Pokémon." He scoffs.

" ... then why give it to me since I'm stealing from you?" I flatly ask with suspicion, carefully holding the strange device. For all I know it could be a mini bomb ... and I caught it in midair way to go, me.

"Because you're amusing. You think this will put a dent in how many Pokémon we have to sell in the Black Market? You think this single warehouse matters at all to our leader's brilliant schemes? If so you are remarkably _stupid_." He scoffs as my eyes narrow at him.

"Go, be free Pokémon! Follow me!" I hear Atticus shout. Wait what?! A loud banging against the main door makes my heart jerk as I dance back. Oh great the rest of the grunts are here but I need to think of something good and catchy before I leave.

"It made a difference to this one. Plus I got some good Pokemon," I tack on as an afterthought before grinning, turning and running towards the back entrance, "Sneasel come!" I order, whipping out the back door and nearly stumble over a trampled grunt I stop short and grab the man's keys. This should do. I kick the rock out of the way that was wedging the door open slightly and slam the door shut before locking it.

I turn and take off down the alley, following the loud cries and shouts of Pokémon not too far off. Sneasel sprints along by my side, getting ahead of me and making a sharp turn into the streets. I follow right after him deciding to trust his nose and ears better than my own. Well that could have gone down better. An Executive of Team Rocket saw my face and now knows my name. But then again, what would he want to do with me? I'm just a petty thief ... that kicked him in the balls.

Oh I have a feeling he's coming after me alright.

* * *

"You perfectly described Team Rocket's Executive Proton. But what is such a high level of Team Rocket doing here in Violet city?" Officer Jenny asks herself, tapping the end of her pen against her bottom lip in thought.

"No idea. We just went in and freed all of these Pokémon." I explain, gesturing over all the Pokémon in the pin where Atticus was being drowned in adorableness by all the Pokémon he set free. Cute~ I let out a faint huff. I'm so disappointed I wasn't able to nab some for myself since the police got to the Pokecenter before I could coordinate who's ball went to which Pokémon. And worse yet Atticus innocently rattata'ed me out by telling them I had Proton's Pokémon. My hand drifts back, gently cradling the Pokeball with the strange snake like creature in it. I was only able to detach one of the balls from the belt before having to hand it over as evidence and tell the officers it was mine to begin with. Oh well, at least now I have a sweet Ekans. Man I love snake Pokemon.

"I see ... Ms. Jackie, please listen carefully," Officer Jenny orders, making me pay attention to her, "I need you and Mr. Atticus to stay here in Violet city while the warehouse undergoes investigations. Until we know exactly what happened you and your friend will be under surveillance. Simply bringing the Pokémon here isn't enough to prove your innocence. I politely ask that you and your friend comply with my orders." She said, clearly a little on edge as she looks at the R on my chest.

"And I completely understand. I would be suspicious too if I were in your shoes so we will stay here. After all I have nothing to hide." I say with a shrug. A break from traveling so much sounds good. I'm sure there are interesting things to look at in this town anyway.

"Thank you. I also request that during the investigation you stay in the hotel next to the police station." She adds on, wanting nothing but complete control over our movements and actions.

"Sounds good. Are we going to have an officer with us too?" I ask, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

"For your own protection. There may be some grunts looking for you both around town now so I suggest that you limit your sightseeing." Officer Jenny explains.

"Ugh," I grunt, annoyed at the fact that Team Rocket are now looking for us in this town. This is going to be just plain annoying, "I agree. I'll tell that one over there when we get to the hotel," I say, jutting my thumb towards Atticus who is currently rolling around with the furry Pokémon.

"Very well. Do not leave the Pokecenter for now. There will be an officer here shortly to escort you to the hotel." The officer with oddly bright blue hair announces before glancing around the Pokémon center where there are now three or four officers acting as guards for the Pokecenter.

"Hm, right," I say with a slight yawn. I'm exhausted. From getting hardly any sleep the other night in the forest to now I'm ready to drop like a rock. Oh, but first I need to get Wooper and the egg back.

* * *

OK! A big shout out r-e-a-p-e-r-.-d-e-a-t-h who has been helping me with the latest chapters involving Atticus and letting me use him for this series. I hope you enjoyed and leave a REVIEW if you liked this or have a sudden hit of an idea as to what could happen next :D


	9. Chapter 9

"A gym?" I ask as I bite into a nice juicy steak with eggs as a breakfast platter, savoring every last bit with delight. Oh this is delicious ... a little pricey but I can't help but indulge myself a little after what happened yesterday. The officer that is basically acting like our babysitter sat on the same side as Atticus, properly minding it own business as me and Atticus talked a bit.

"Yeah. You're a trainer right?" Atticus asks as he calmly and politely eats his own piece, looking a little unnerved as I slurp down the chunks of meat, getting food over my face without a care in the world before politely wiping it off and reassuming my gluttonous indulgence. Hm~ meat~ oh, he asked me a question.

"Not sure yet," I answer, watching Wooper swim around and around the Rattata ball as Sneasel watches it with its cat like eyes. It slyly and slowly reaches out with its claw, keeping me in the corner of its eye before tapping the side and quickly pulling back, eyes on me to see if I would bother yelling at it for the hit. Ugh ... I swear I've severely underestimated how smart Pokémon really are. Sneasel acts like a little trouble maker swatting at the ball whenever he can and looks to me expecting me to yell at him. Tch, he's testing his limits with me and I don't like it.

"You see, in Violet city, there is a Gym Leader named Falkner and he is an expert in Flying Pokemon," Atticus explains as he takes a bite from his own steak, staring at his Turtwig that's nibbling at the lettuce from his plate. My glare turns to the Turtwig to which it returns in kind, fire burning in its soulless eyes. Oh it's on the next time for sure. He definitely remembers my punting him across his little field.

"Right ... and to become a 'trainer' or whatever I need to face him, right? Sounds like too much work," I huff, taking another bite. Becoming a trainer could be fun though. I could be a trainer like grandma and raise my team to eventually beat her own. I glance over the silver balls around my waist, wondering what to do with them. Only one has come out. All the others are still hauled up in their balls and mourning. Hm ... I could probably use them in the gym battle.

... no, I can't. I did not raise them and to me that's kind of cheating. I'm going to use my own Pokémon to battle the gym. After hopefully getting some new additions to the team besides the one I swiped from that guy Proton. I glance over the Pokeball, spying the Ekans with its back to me still. Hm, whatever. It's probably pissy since I haven't let it out of the Pokeball yet.

"Did you hear about those Gastlys appearing all over Sprout Tower?" Someone says in a loud conversation at the table next to us. Gastly ... that's a ghost Pokémon. I remember seeing a battle between Team Rocket grunts in my neighborhood and one of them used a Gastly. It delivered some pretty hardcore moves.

"Yeah. I wonder why all those ghost Pokémon are appearing there?" One asks as I half turn to look over the men conversing. Well now I'm interested.

"No idea man," the other says with a shrug, sipping his early morning coffee.

... ghost Pokémon, huh? That would make a nice addition to my team.

"Nein... I hate Ghost Pokémon," Atticus shivers a bit nervous after hearing that information as well, "um, moving on from that, there are some trainers who don't challenge gym leaders."

"No?" I ask, glancing at him with little interest compared to the talk about ghost Pokémon.

"Ja! Some people become Pokémon breeders or Pokémon doctors or even Pokémon maniacs. In my opinion, as long as you have a purpose for a journey, you are a trainer-"

"Right, right hey, you two," I call, turning around to get some answers out of them, "what was that about ghost Pokémon?" I ask, tapping one of the guys on the shoulder to get their attention.

"Oh, well one of our friends were at Sprout Tower earlier for some sightseeing and a few monks were talking about seeing a few Ghost Pokémon floating around at night. It's probably rumors, seeing that our friend likes to spread them, but other people were talking about it so it might be true." The guy explains, a bit happy to pass on a rumor.

"Huh. Thanks," she said, making a mental note in her head to go and check it out herself. Plus it would be a good time to train Sneasel and this Ekans here. Atticus takes a sip from his drink, staring at me before swallowing

"Are you interested in catching a Ghost type? I think it would be a good Pokémon to use against Normal type Pokémon. But they're frightening..."

"Yeah they are." I eagerly grin, now more excited than ever to go and check out Sprout Tower, "we'd probably have to go at night though. What else is there here?" I ask as I look at Atticus, expecting he would know. Since we have to wait until night we might as well have a look around the town a bit more.

"There's a Pokemon School, the gym, the tower, and then if we go to the south of here, we'd follow a path straight to the ruins." Atticus explains, deep in thought, "and then if we keep heading south, we'd have to go through a cave and then arrive straight to Azalea Town."

"Ruins?" I repeat, interested. "What kind of ruins?"

"I don't know really. I've always heard that they have interesting writings. You can go check it out yourself if you'd like," Atticus suggests before petting his Turtwig that wanted more of the greens. It eagerly snapped its beak like mouth at the plate, trying to rummage around for some more despite there not being any left.

"Hm, yeah that sounds good. We can go after we finish," Jackie says, glancing over the ball with the Ekans inside it. I haven't taken it out yet but if I can find a quiet and calm place I will. I still have no idea what kind of button that Proton guy gave me is.

"Oh... alright. Whatever you like." Atticus says, tugging at his shirt, "I'm not a big fan of Ghosts, but I do wonder what kind of Ghost Pokémon there are in the tower."

"Oh so you're planning to go with me? Sounds good," I chuckle, busting his balls as I finish up my meal and drink the rest of my water, eager to go and explore the ruins. I wonder what kind of Pokémon are there? I pause before letting out a faint sigh, realizing how friendly I've gotten with Atticus. I've really lightened up since ... that night.

"I would rather you two not go to the ruins," the party pooper officer says in a firm voice, staying seated and trapping Atticus inside the booth.

"Boo," I openly complain as I turn my attentions to the officer, "lighten up a bit. I want to look around a bit and you'll be there anyway." I point out, clearly annoyed about the resistance the young officer was giving us.

"I apologize but I am under the strict orders that you two are not to leave the city until the investigation is over and that you two are in the clear," the officer said in a stern voice. Well great there goes the ruins.

" ... you suck." I huffs, slouching against the table as she starts to think of a plan to get away from them and go anyway. I hate being babysat.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but rules are rules," The officer explains as Atticus sinks into his seat with Turtwig grinning up at him.

"But officer, we just want to see the ruins. Other than looking at the ancient writings, what else could we possibly do there?" Atticus says, now joining in on ganging up on the cop. The officer's resolve clearly begins to waver before he heavily sighs, acting like a parent with two unruly and bratty children who are getting at his nerves at every angle.

"Fine but neither of you are to leave my sight, understood?" He says, wiping his mouth off with a napkin and standing up after leaving money on the table.

"Sounds good," I say, standing up to follow him out as I left money on the table for what I ordered.

* * *

"The path to the ruins is just straight down. Then we need to take a left." Atticus directs as he looks at my Pokegear.

"I've been to the ruins before. So this is your first time in Violet city?" The officer asks, lighting up a little bit as we follow him down the path. Well, this is the first time he's shown genuine interest in who we are.

"Yeah. Are the ruins any good?" I ask, taking him up on his attempt at small talk. I wonder if with this officer we can go and explore some places others don't often get to see.

"Of course! There are some very spectacular spots that are just out of the tourist ring. Hm~ if you two promise not to wander off I can take you to some of the more sensitive places." He offers, his eyes glowing with excitement himself despite his attempt to restrain it.

"Do you study archaeology?" Atticus asks, curious about the man's excitement.

"I minored in archaeology in college. It's amazing stuff, really. I'll explain when we get there so you kids can see it for yourselves." He grins.

"I'm a little excited for this." Atticus admits with a growing smile as he carries the Rattata ball with Wooper smiling inside. Wooper popped his head out of the homemade fish tank as it looks around the path with the officer is leading.

"Woopah~ woopah~!"

The officer leads us down a thick path before taking a turn towards the woods, pulling aside a branch for us to go down before continuing to lead us down a beaten path. This is awesome.

"It's a little out of the way but it's worth it. There are some interesting Pokémon there too. You are both trainers, yes?" He asks, glancing over his shoulder at us.

"Uh, yes. Yeah!" Atticus says before glancing over to me, probably expecting a wish washy answer.

"Uh ... I'm not sure yet, honestly," I admit as we continue down the path. We make a sharp turn in the trees spying a large building and large broken hunks of rock scattered all over the ground. Whoa ... this is pretty cool. I look up on top of one of the pillars, seeing a ball-like green Pokémon on top of it and staring down at us. What Pokémon is that? I stop and pull out my Pokedex, flipping through the images and trying to match it to its right picture.

"It's cute. That's Natu, isn't it?" Atticus points out, receiving a slightly impressed glance from me. Well isn't he faster than a Pokedex.

"Uh ... yeah," I half heartedly agree, flipping through until I find that name. I look through the description and read it out loud since this old school version doesn't speak, "because its wings aren't yet fully grown, it has to hop to get around. It is always staring at something. I repeat word after word before looking up at it, "interesting," I mutter, looking up at it before over to Atticus, "why don't you try to catch it?" I suggest, wondering how good of a trainer he is.

"What? Me? I... I don't know." He pulls a Pokeball off of his belt and stared at the eager Growlithe in the capsule ball. "But this would be perfect for Growlithe to get a little exercise." He grins before tossing the ball forward, "Go! Growlithe!"

I watch as he pops out the Growlithe. Hm, interesting but I want to check out my Ekans. I lean back, detaching the Ekans from my belt and look at it. Hm ... this Ekans looks a little funny. The Ekans promptly turns its head away from me each time I try to twist the ball around to get a better look at it. Oh you butthead ok let's see you _out_ of the ball. I walk a few dozen yards away from the fight so I don't freak out that Natu, making sure to stay in the anxious officer's sights before clicking on the center of the ball and expanding it.

"Come on out, Ekans." I say to myself, opening the capsule and letting the red light spill out. I eagerly grin as I watch the ... thing ... appear.

...

That's the ugliest Ekans I've ever seen in my life.

I tilt my head as I stare at the unnaturally long fangs protruding from its mouth and blade like tail. The markings are pretty and all but aren't most Ekans completely purple? I pull out a Pokedex, flipping through the pictures to try and find one similar to it. With every other picture I glance up at the Ekans, watching it intensely staring back at me with rather frighteningly fiery eyes. Uh ... no, no seriously what the hell is this thing?

My eyes travel to its neck, spying a thick metal band around it's throat. A collar?

"Uwaaaaah! What the heck is that?!" Atticus cries as he scoops up his Growlithe and steps away from the Ekans.

The Pokémon lets out a frightening hiss as its tail threateningly waves back and forth, staring like it was eyeing up prey it was trying to decide it wanted or not. Sneasel walks between us, eyeing the Pokémon with riveting excitement as I take a few precautionary steps back.

"I ... thought it was an Ekans." I honestly say, sounding a little unnerved as I continue flipping through the entrances. Seriously, seriously though what the hell is it?

"That surely is not from the Johto region. Hm ... I think I've seen red fangs like those before in a drug bust a while back," the officer says, tapping his chin before looking at Jackie, "look up Pokémon in the Hoenn region."

"Hoenn? Uh, sure," I say, having no idea what the Hoenn region was as I jump to the section under Hoenn and started looking. It's bright red eyes make a predatory glint as it lowers its head, letting out a fierce hiss.

"C-Careful, everyone..." Atticus murmurs as he cradles his Growlithe that openly stared at the snake Pokémon, ready to loose a breath of fire if it attacked any one of them.

"Oh, here it is," I say, seeing the exact same image of the Seviper printed on the screen. "Seviper, in battle, it uses its bladed tail to counter any ZANGOOSE. It secretes a deadly venom in its tail," I read out loud before looking at it again. Wow that's cool~ but really, really scary at the same time and good hell it's still eyeing me up.

"Ah-! That Seviper has a Team Rocket Emblem on its collar," the officer points out with his sharp eyes. Crap.

"It does?" I ask, playing dumb as Atticus's face went pale, probably realizing who's Seviper it was.

"Jackie-!" He starts before sealing his mouth up shut, seeing the devil rage from my eyes as I glare at him, as if daring him to say something that would get the Seviper taken from me. I'll dump his butt in a lake if he dares says who it used to belong to.

"A-And that collar is a torturous method Team Rocket uses on rather stubborn Pokémon I've seen. There's supposed to be a button that will signal the collar to shock it," the officer explains, seeming nervous as he pulled out his Pokeball as a precaution.

"Ugh ... Team Rocket disgusts me," I hiss before circling the Seviper, trying to figure out how to get close enough to unbuckle it from its neck. There's no way I can get close to it like this. It's hissing and looks like it's about to kill me. Maybe I should fight it? If it faints I could take the collar off safely.

"Ja-Jackie wait! It'll attack you!" Atticus warns as the Seviper leans back, staring at Jackie and opening it's jaws to let out a hiss of warning.

"I'm not an idiot," I huff, glancing at Sneasel. "Senasel use Scratch," I order and bob my head towards the Seviper, backing up for them to fight it out. I know I have to KO it before helping it. It's too agitated to help right now.

Sneasel nods before lunging at the Seviper, swiping it's claw at the larger opponent. The Seviper's deadly gaze flashes as it hissed, whipping its bladed tail at him. Sneasel hardly has time to make a sound as the powerful tail slams him into the side of a tower, KOing Sneasel in one hit. My jaw drops in shock. He just- in one move alone?! Oh goodd hell Sneasel needs training. Desperately. I whip my head towards the hissing reptile, jolting back as it lunges at me with jaws wide open and fangs fully extended.

"Growlithe, use Take Down!"

The fire pup jumps out of Atticus's arms, landing on the ground and dashes towards the Seviper before tackling the Pokémon away from me. I immediately scramble over to Sneasel despite the battling, quickly picking him up and holding the limp Sneasel close. Oh man Sneasel you are so _weak_! I need to figure out how to either level it up or figure out a technique that fits him more than what it's been doing. My head snaps up as I hear a sharp whine, looking just in time to see Growlithe flying at me.

"GAH!" I cry, tumbling back with the KOed pup. My eyes bug open, shocked as I look up to the wildly grinning Seviper as it hisses our way and waving its tail around.

"Growlithe, flamethrower!" The officer ordered as the fire consumed Seviper, forcing it to turn tail and get out of the way or face serious burns. Atticus hurries over to me, kneeling down as he held a Pokeball out. He taps the ball to Growlithe's head, returning his poor Growlithe back and gently helping me sit up with the fainted Sneasel in my lap. "Jackie, are you alright?"

"F-Fine, I'm fine," I breathe, quickly retuning Sneasel to his ball as Atticus helps me up. Man ... that Seviper is crazy strong! I better not have gotten a bigger bite than I can chew with this one. It's completely wild! now I get why it has that collar on in the first place.

Seviper and the officer's Growlithe engage in a fierce fight. With a hiss Seviper Slammed its tail against Growlithe and sends him flying. The Growlithe rolled to its feet and unleashed a powerful flamethrower over the Seviper, wavering with a limp before regaining his stance.

"Growlithe, use Bite!" The officer shouts as the Growlithe leaps to unleash its fangs at the as Seviper, only to yelp as it is smacked down to the ground by its glowing purple tail. With a whimpering whine it tumbles across the ground, smacking against the stone I was sitting on earlier.

Which Wooper and my bag with the egg is laying again.

"Growlithe-!" The officer gasps as the snake looks over it with devious and hungry eyes. The Seviper leans down with opened jaws before snapping its head to the side, spying Wooper swimming around and around in the Rattata ball by my bag.

"Woopah~ Woopah~" Wooper's muffled chants cry, gaining the Seviper's interest as its poisonous tail reached over and smacks at the ball before quickly moving back, expecting something to pop out at it.

"Woo~hooo~hoo~hooo~hoopahhhh~," Wooper's voice warps before rolling to a stop beside Seviper's tail. Seviper's eyes follow it swimming around and around before leaning back with a psychotic grin. With a menacing hiss it lifts its tail, ready to cleave both the ball and baby Wooper in half.

Oh no.

Oh hell no.

Oh hell to the mother f***ing _NO!_

My vision goes red with absolute rage, a maternal mothering instinct going haywire and throwing all logic to the back of my head. I make a dash right at the Seviper, startling it before leaping up and Hi Jump Kicking it's snake butt to the ground. The large reptile let out a hiss as it spins around and opened its jaws but I clasp my hands together into a fist and with all my might bring it down over its head, smacking it's jaw against the rock under us.

"DON'T TOUCH MAH BABY!" I scream, grabbing a long fang and holding its head firm before driving my knee into its throat. Seviper's eyes widen, seeing the pits of hell burning deep in my eyes and a lust for vengeance against it.

"SHE HIT THE SEVIPER?!" The ex-grunt cries out in utter shock and disbelief as the Seviper falls to the ground, gasping and wheezing for air from its bruised throat.

"Her baby?!" The officer yells in shock as Wooper swims around in the ball without a care in the world. "No, ma'am get away from that Seviper! That's an order!" The officer professionally orders now that sense was returning to him, getting out his baton and cautiously approaching to rip me away from the fight.

"Woo~pah woopah!" Wooper cheerfully sings as I gently hook my foot under the ball and roll it back into place against the bag with the egg. The moment Wooper is secure I turn and glare at the hacking Seviper, seeing it stiffen up and try to get its breath back while it's eyes watered from the lack of oxygen. I move to the other side, avoiding the officer and glaring down my real prey.

I breathe hard and heavy through my teeth as I look around the ground for something, spying a large two by four lying on the ground. This'll work. My eyes flash as I grab the plank of wood, wobbling for a moment before turning to glare at the Seviper. I'm teaching it respect right here and now. You don't go trying to kill my baby and walk or even crawl away from it. The Seviper wobbles slightly, hardly collecting its mind before I swing the large two by four around and smack it upside the head.

With a shocked and startled hiss the Seviper recoils back, opening it's jaws towards me and menacingly waving it glowing violet tail in the air. In my rage I chuck the large hunk of wood at it, watching as the Seviper dips underneath and glares at me. My brief moment of rage slightly falters as I grit my teeth and get ready for round two before the Seviper suddenly turns to the bushes and swipes the tail against the foliage. A large white and red creature leapt out with a fierce growl, slashing its long claws against the Seviper's side before biting it. What the-?

The Seviper hisses, turning it's rage to the odd Pokémon that seemed to appear out of nowhere. My eyes turn to my bag and Wooper as I leap forward, grabbing the bag and baby before quickly retreating and watching the two Pokémon duke it out. Where in the world did that thing come from?

"Oh Zangoose, make sure to beat that ugly beast down," a voice smoothly purrs as someone steps out of the bushes, "after all, we can't let the lovely lady get hurt."

I turn my attention to the stranger who steps into the clearing, absolutely floored by his gorgeous face.

DANG! Now THAT is eye candy! A little thin and lean but still nice to look at. My attention is now torn between him and the fight, carefully watching Seviper getting thrashed by the strange Pokémon. Seviper looks like it is in a rage, fighting with all its might against the fast Pokémon when before it was a little woozy when facing off with me.

"What Pokemon is that?" I ask, glancing at the man while readying Seviper's Pokeball. That Pokémon looks like it was rabies or something ... I have a feeling it will continue to throttle Seviper even if it faints.

"Oh it's a harmless Zangoose. You know, the Serviper's sworn enemy. Awe~ how they battle so fiercely and wildly against one another is truly a sight to behold," the gorgeous guy replies before winking at me, "so~ After this, care to join me in Violet city for a drink?"

"Woopah~"

"Eh?" His focus shifts as the Wooper inside of the Rattata ball rolls around in my arm, dumbly smiling at the world around it.

"A natural enemy?" I ask, snapping my head to the side as Seviper let out a strangled hiss before falling limp, completely out. I watch as Zangoose leaps over it, claws high to deliver more blows. "Hey, hey! Stop it's already out!" I snap as I hurry over and set my bag and Wooper down, watching as Zangoose slashes away at Seviper's head.

"I said _enough_!" I shout. This Seviper may need a whole lot of training but it's _my_ Seviper now. I whip forward and punch Zangoose right across the cheek, knocking him right off the fainted Seviper. I quickly straddle the Seviper and wrestle with the collar, quickly unbuckling it before tapping the ball against its head and forcing it back into its Pokeball all before the Zangoose can attack it again. Whew this thing is strong ... it took five Pokémon strong and me to finish it off.

"You!" The boy's voice cries, sounding mortified. I glance up, holding my Pokeball as I stare at the gawking man. "You punched...you punched my beloved Zangoose!"

" ... yup," I say, popping the P and not feeling one bit of regret for it. That Zangoose was hurting my Seviper and I'm not having that. I stand up and click the Seviper Pokeball to my belt before casting him a sharp glare, "next time I say stop you get your Pokémon under control." I coldly snap, worriedly heading towards my Wooper to make sure it and the egg are alright.

"A...A...," the boy stammers, hardly able to utter an intelligible word as his head sharply tilted to the right, a maddened glare beginning to appear in his wildly twisted eyes. I roll my eyes and ignore him, picking up my egg and Pokeball. Well someone's about to have a mental breakdown.

"Uh oh... that guy is probably going to throw a tantrum," Atticus sheepishly noted as the officer nods, cradling his fainted Growlithe.

"Amazing! I've never seen anything like it!" the Arian boy cries in amazement, is eyes turning towards that sort of Poochyena love, "MARRY ME."

" ... what?" I ask an automatic response, dumbfounded by his response. Did he just ...

"I said would you like to go out for a drink tonight?" He cutely and tactfully rewords with a cheerful smile. I blankly stare out of dumb silence, repeating the words he just said over and over again in my mind. Wait ... do _what_? My head cranes back, blinking as I stare at the smiling psychopath.

"Uh ... I'm busy ... with ... stuff." I say, my confidence clearly shaken beyond repair for the moment. He just said to _marry_ him. Marry him?

"But what stuff? My dear, it would be my greatest honor to take you out for a stroll around town tonight." He relentlessly pursues with a sweet and innocent smile.

" ... first of all, you're like what, 16?" I retort, deciding that destroying his self made image would encourage him to stay the hell away from me.

"15."

"Even worse. Second of all we area already going to go to Sprout Tower tonight to catch some Pokemon." I say, jutting my thumb over to Atticus and the officer who are both in a stunned silence.

"Eh! So let me come along too! Sounds good? Great! Until then, fiancé~" the teen waves as he holds out a pokeball and returns his Zangoose, skipping away back to wherever the hell it came from. I rub my temples as Atticus stares after the guy, gripping his Pokeball rather tightly.

"He...doesn't seem right to me." Atticus says, his eyes seeming to go a little hazy as he carefully studies where the crazed lunatic ran off to.

"I ... I just can't do it. Why are people here so weirdly friendly? I swear every single last one of you is a secret serial killer and I have no idea just how much because you are all too freaking nice!" I shout, letting out some of my frustration and anger to the sky.

"Jac-Jackie..." Atticus trails off before pointing at my head, "The Natu is on your head." I blink, startled before hearing the bird let out a small trill, tightening up on a little ball before sitting on my head as if it was planning to sleep.

"GYAAAAHHHHH I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOU RIGHT NOW!" I shout, madly swiping at the bird and startling it to take flight and flee. I just nearly died I don't need a stupid flightless Pokémon pooping on my head!

"HEY I THOUGHT YOU COULDN'T FLY, NATUUUUU!" Atticus cries as he slumps over in defeat, his chances of catching a Flying Psychic Pokémon now gone.

"You can come back at another time and get it, but now let's just go back and get our Pokémon rested at the Pokémon Center." The officer says before turning to me with a sharper gaze, "do not let that untrained Seviper out of its Pokeball. It is clearly a danger as it is now."

"Uh, yeah," I agree, nervously glancing over the ball with the fainted Seviper. This will be tricky but now I really want this Seviper. It's powerful and dangerous. But of course, training it will be a pain in the rear for sure.

* * *

Who thinks she's going to keep the Seviper? Should she even bother keeping it? Leave your thoughts in the REVIEWS :3


	10. Chapter 10

"What time is it?" I ask as we head through the dark town towards Sprout Tower. It sucks that officer is still following us but he at least promised to stay at the entrance of the entrance of Sprout Tower so he doesn't interrupt our time catching some Ghost Pokémon.

"Almost 11," Atticus says, his eyes drifting to the Pokeball around my waist with the Seviper in it before looking away. I roll my eyes at his reaction and look ahead. Yes Seviper tried to kill us all but I'm determined to train it. After all, it's a kick butt Pokémon. All I need to do is train it not to kill everything and not to eat Wooper.

"Perfect." I say, a little annoyed. The Pokémon may be a little sparse at first but I'm sure one is bound to show up sooner or later.

"I will stay here near the entrance. If anything happens blow this," the officer says, handing us two red whistles. I stare at the whistle in my hands, almost stunned at this officer's logic. He gave us whistles to blow in case we get in trouble?

... yes because we are going to take the time to blow the red whistle while we are being brutally murdered by Team Rocket Grunts. Genius.

"Yup, I'll do that sir," I say, spinning around and trotting off so I don't have to listen to any more of his stupidity. Yes it means more freedom for us but seriously? After what happened with Seviper? Forget it, nope, I'm not going to question the Johto police logic on this one. Not worth my time.

My eyes glint with excitement as I stare at the top of the tower, slowing moving down the various floors before seeing some Bellsprout pillars in front of the large doors with a figure leaning against one of the statues. Oh son of a Growlithe why is he here?!

"Ugh," I openly grunt, "it's here why the hell is it here?" I groan before the psycho turns and spies us approaching, greeting us with a large happy grin.

"Oh you came! I was afraid I had frightened you off earlier," he honestly admits, walking up to us. I open my mouth, tempted to say 'oh no it's completely normal to tell someone marry me when you first meet them' but I have a feeling saying that will come back and bite me in the butt.

"Well it was definitely off putting." I bluntly state, a little unnerved by his presence. Seriously, why is he here? Can't he tell I'm clearly not interested? Besides he's practically still a kid. He may be a little taller than me but that doesn't mean much; to me he still looks like he has a childish face.

"Well, what are you waiting for? You want to catch a ghost type, right?" The blonde haired boy asks, sliding his fingers between mine and tugging me towards the tower. My eyes narrow as I pull my hand away from his.

"Yeah we are. What are _you_ doing here?" I ask, glancing at his belt and seeing four Pokémon lined up and ready to go starting with his Seviper. As for the rest from what I can see I have no idea what the others are. Since when were so many Pokémon so funny looking?

"Oh, I am here to help you search for some. Of course, only the best for my lady," he suavely smiles, gently cupping my hand as he leans down to kiss it. I blink and let him do it, more so out of shock and awe at the size of his balls than wanting him to do it. Uh ... wow, wow I really don't know what to say about this idiot.

"Ugh, fine. Just don't go scaring them off." I say, pulling my hand back and walking past them to the door. Well great now I have another dead weight on my hands. But then again, with Pokémon as powerful as his we don't really have anything to worry about here. My hand gently drifts over the silver Pokeballs on my hips before I open the front door and pull it back for the two to go in. Atticus walks in with a swift trot as I look up to the blonde hair noticing a dark glare on his face before he notices my staring, quickly turning that frown into the most cheerful grin I've ever seen. There's something off with this guy but I can't put my finger on it.

"So what are you planning to catch, my love?" The boy asks, hugging my arm rather tightly and walking as close as possible to me. Oh good hell he's the clingy type gross, gross get it off. I keep my composure fairly well, leaning away from him and resisting with all my might to punch him off.

"A ghost Pokémon. I will have to see what's here." I say, looking up at the looming tower and trying to ignore the guy hooked to my hip.

"Then I'll help you! But you really don't need the extra useless baggage, do you?" He asks as he cheerfully smiles at me. Well if by useless baggage he means himself I'm one hundred percent on board but I have a feeling he's referring to Atticus in the nicest way possible. My focus shifts, watching as Atticus ignores us and tugs on the doors to the tower.

"Still unlocked, good," he says as he pulls the door aside. I slip my arm free of the blonde haired pest and cautiously walk into the building first, immediately admiring the simple yet soothing architecture. The giant middle pillar sways back and forth making me uneasy. Uh ... is it suppose to do that? I flinch each time it sways, almost expecting the building to come crashing down.

"Don't worry, Jackie, it's suppose to do that. The swaying pillar helps the tower survive through storms." Atticus explains, looking like he was holding in a chuckle at my reaction.

"Oh silly, of course she already knows that." the blonde coos, giving me a fond look.

"Nope." She said as she popped the 'p'. "What is your name?" I don't want to keep referring to him as the blonde or, more accurately, the stalker. A broad and sunny smile lights up his face as his eyes look like mini hearts form in them.

"I am so happy you care! My name is Kilik but you may call me Kidd," he smiles, clasping my hand in his as he looks like I just gave him a mountain of candy. Ew, no. Uh ... shoo, go away.

"Ouch-!" He breathes, whipping his arms back as Sneasel looks up to him and sticks its tongue out, clearly startling the touchy man.

"No, bad Sneasel," I sarcastically and flatly say while internally thanking it. Sneasel trots alongside me as I head towards the stairs in the back corner, determined to get closer to the top and search for a Ghost Pokémon. I doubt they would be on the bottom floor and my instincts are telling me to go up.

"Hopefully we'll run into the Ghost Pokémon soon, I'd hate to stay up all night." Atticus says as I hum in agreement. If we come out with nothing gained from this that would definitely suck. I slow down as we approach the second floor, looking around the empty room. My heart pounds with excitement, half expecting one to pop out at us without much warning.

"Alright now where~ are~ you~," I whisper under my breath as I walk into the room, listening to the two boys following close behind.

"It's pr-probably watching us in secret. Ugh, I'm shivering ... ," Atticus shivers and suddenly let out a scream. My head whips back, expecting to see a large looming Pokemon I intend to capture, but only spy Turtwig recovering from a tackle as Atticus stumbles back into a wooden wall, eyes wildly wide and hand dramatically placed over his heart. "Nein! Geez, Turtwig, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

The Pokémon broadly grins in response, obviously very proud of what it's done. Pffffft oh that's just too funny. I snort and continue searching, aware that Sneasel was sticking very close by my side and not really looking around.

"Hey Sneasel, help me look around," I say with a grin. Its head pops up, eyes shining with restrained excitement as I grin and jut my chin up to encourage it. Without an order more it dashes from my side and scampers onto the head of a Bellsprout statue and flicks its head around as its ears remain tall and eagerly alert. It's so cute how excited he gets when he can run around in darkness and explore.

I walk over to the stairs, glancing back at the others and in particular, Atticus. I don't want his screaming to scare the ghost Pokémon away and this is an opportunity to get some space from Kidd.

"Hey, why don't we all separate and look? I will go to the top floor and you two just kinda look wherever you want." I flippantly say and trot up the stairs. They can go ahead and do whatever they want for all I care. If I'm lucky they will chase all the Ghost Pokémon upstairs for me.

ATTICUS'S POV

"G-good idea," I nod in agreement. Some time away from each other might do us good.

"No! I want to stay with you!" Kidd cries, reaching towards Jackie with a shocked expression. But Jackie was already up the stairs. I let out a faint sigh, weighing my chances on staying or maybe going outside and later try to convince her that Ghost Pokémon could be there too.

"Aww~ I wanted to help her catch what she wanted." Kidd pouts as he tugs on the rim of his shirt, staring at the stairs and trying to decide what he should do.

I blink before slowly glancing over to the pouting guy. His actions, his overly sweet gestures, his candy like eyes that seem to have a sour center deeply confuses me. I feel so uneasy around him and he genuinely seems like a nice guy. A little pushy but sweet. A pang through my chest makes me grip my heart as I push the recurring uneasy feeling back and start to head for the stairs to go 'look around' outside. A hand overlapping my own jerks me back, startling me as I whip my head around and spy the taller man's bright blue eyes seeming to cut through the darkness and straight to my heart despite the smile on his face.

"Mr. Atticus, let's go together. I don't like being in the dark alone," he admits, glancing off to the side but his expression wasn't exactly nervous.

"Uh ... sure, if you need to," I say, letting him hold onto my hand with his longer sleeves acting like a barrier between our skin. He stays quiet for the most part as I walk around the second floor, suddenly unable to find the stairs. B-But weren't they over in that corner? O-Or maybe over there? My mind begins to feel muddled as to where the stairs are actually located until, after a few times circling the room, Kidd's hand lightly squeezes my own.

"Excuse me, Mr. Atticus. What is your relation with dear Jackie?" The boy cutely asks, tugging on my hand and making me look at his sugar coated smile. I stare for a few moments, wondering if he thinks Jackie and I might have something going on and that's why he's asking. Normal enough, he supposed.

"We're only traveling temporarily together. We happened to be going to the same places and decided that two is better than one." I sincerely answer. Despite us finally being on agreeing terms, I know I can't stay with Jackie. I need to go on and fight my own battles. After all, she only helped me out due to circumstances. I am very sure she'd be happy to get me out of her hair.

"Oh? Then why are you still here?" He asks, innocently blinking as he tilts his head, processing my answer. Beneath those eyes I feel his child-like stare trying to cut right through me. Why ... why is this boy making me feel so uneasy? My heart throbs again as I take the aching with a slight shiver, unnerved by my anxious reactions.

"Well ... after we visit the ruins again, I think I'll leave for Azalea Town and Jackie can go wherever she likes." I explain, a bit put off by my reaction to the guy.

"Oh! Which means that she will join me!" He excitedly exclaims as he grasps my hand a little tighter as if to hold me in place. He continues to babble excitedly to himself and all the fun adventures they will have, not once mentioning my name in the mix. I listen to his excitement, unable to find anything particularly wrong with what he's saying. But why do I keep getting this reoccurring feeling that I'm in danger?

This guy is just ... too sweet. As if he's trying too hard to cover something up. It seems to me, that if I actually decide to continue traveling with Jackie, that this Aryan boy would try to plot against me and have me either be forced to leave or ... disappear.

"Ask Jackie. She'll decide if she'll want to travel with you or not." I suggest, trying not to roll my eyes as I gently let the boy's hand go. Of course I won't challenge him in a Pokémon battle, the stranger was stronger than me. Much, much stronger.

"But ... can I do it? Can I get passed and eliminate the obstacles? Just ... just like mommy likes," Kidd mutters to himself, his hand tightening around my own as the air suddenly seemed to get heavier. "Yes ... yes, I think I can. I take the object of affection and get rid of everything else, j-just ... just like what mommy wants."

Without warning Kidd rams into my back, sending me sprawling onto the ground. I bulk, startled and flip around to my back just as the boy sits on my stomach and folds his arms, leaning over me with a neutral expression and distant eyes.

"H-Hey, get off me!" I cry, struggling underneath of him but his weight holds as he makes sure not to get tossed off as he continues to stare into my eyes with his cold gaze. What's gotten into him?!

" ... yes, yes maybe now I can. Maybe now ... now I can make mommy happy," he says, putting his hands up in an open handed striking position before snapping them forward and grabbing my wrist in his long fingers. Kidd shoved them against the ground, staring emotionlessly at my neck.

"Wh...what...?" He's crazy! A twitching, demonic grin spreads across his lips as his eyes begin to water with oncoming tears.

"Look ... ook mommy, I can do it, this time I can do it, I can kill him just for you, mommy-!" He hysterically mutters, his pupils crazily shrinking.

Struggling, I hiss under my laboring breath, staring up at the insane attacker who tightens his grip at every passing second. His mother? He wants to kill ... for his mother? I twitch, struggling against his grasp with all my might. My nerves and body scream for freedom but I want to scream for Jackie. For her to come see this and discover what kind of insane b****** this guy is. Only a soft cry comes choking out of my mouth from my shock.

"I can do it ... can't I? Yes, yes I must. All for mommy." He whispers.

And then my pupils shrink as if a switch was flipped.

A wild, savage feeling completely engulfs my chest as my eyes narrow in anger, taking the body away from my weaker half and assuming my rightful position. My strength extends to the tips of my fingers which tightly clench in anticipation.

He will pay.

My iron fist whipped across the assaulter's face making him fall back. His eyes widened in shock as he touches his struck cheek, wobbling to his legs as he stares at me with disbelief.

"You can't do anything for your Mutti." I coldly growl. The insane attacker's eyes grow crazed as he gets to his feet and slips out a small pocket knife from his pocket, his hand trembling as he held it with the knive folded in.

"Ha ... ha, hahahahaha!" The man hysterically howls as he flips the pocket knife in his hand and glares at me, all sense of his candy sweetness gone, "I knew it, I knew there was something off with you. Even behind that innocent facade you cannot hide it from me, oh no," the man breathes, licking his lips as he begins to waver back and forth, "you can't hide that sort of lust it's the same as mommy's. I knew it from the second I saw you. But how ... how do you put up such a good mask?" He asks, seeming curious how I seemed so calm and sweet before suddenly flipping the switch while his own mask had cracked here and there in the short time he was with us.

I glared at him before slowly getting up, brushing off my wrists and then reached behind my waist to pull out a bowie knife. Kidd's eyes darken with apprehension, flipping out his own blade which paled in comparison to Atticus's size.

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you. Now come at me with everything you have." I say, rather get the threat over and done with now rather than later.

The boy wildly grins, licking the tip of his blade for good luck before lurching forward. I grin and launch at him, reading to counter attack before two large black and violet spheres shoot up from the ground, dragging its tongue over both our faces. Paralyzed from the startling lick we both fall forward, bumping our heads. My fingers hardly twitch in response as I struggle to grip my knife tighter, unable to move a muscle. My lips barely part to shout but no sounds came out. A Gastly-!

The Ghost Pokémon hysterically laughs as it flies overhead, cackling and stuck its tongue out to mock us. More materialize out of the walls and floor to join in with the trouble maker Gastly, floating around in the air and dancing around. No matter how much I try neither of us could reach our Pokeballs to call for help. I glare at their floating figures annoyed that these pests interrupted. I hope they are all exposed into the sun and shrivel up for this.

The main Gastly that had licked me cheekily prances around my body, rummaging through my backpack and spilling the Pokeballs all over the floor. It curiously eyes them, tapping it's gaseous head against a few and began rolling them all over the ground. A few more join in with the game and spread the empty Pokeballs all around the room. With a loud laugh the main Gastly, and notably one of the bigger ones, continued to spread them around never noticing that on one in particular it clicked on the center button.

A shot of red light hits at the Gastly, dragging it into the Pokeball. It's eyes widen and mouth gaps in shock before it's ripped into the ball that snaps shut, wiggling three times before letting out a loud click and indicating that it had been caught.

" ... fick!"

* * *

"Ugh, I can't believe I didn't see a SINGLE ghost Pokemon!" I irritably fume as I stomp down the stairs, wondering if the other two had any luck. But since they didn't come calling I assume they had just about as much luck as I did. Sneasel let out a sigh as well before perking up, listening intently to something before racing down the stairs. Oh! Did it see one? I dash after it, excited to potentially catch a Ghost Pokémon before spying both Atticus and Kidd on the ground, completely immobile.

... oh please tell me they're sleeping.

"Hey, guys? You all alright?" I call, walking over to them in a hurry as Sneasel sniffs Kidd's clothes in a rushed hurry, slipping its claws into his pockets probably as an automatic response to rob them. "Sneasel, no robbing."

"Can't...move...! Jackie!" Atticus muffles into the floor, trembling with his attempts to move and stand up.

"What happened?" I frantically demand, grabbing Atticus's shoulder and rolling him onto his back, "what the hell is wrong with you two?" I reach over, rolling over Kidd and looking them both over with knives in their clenched grasps. My eyes widen, a shiver crawling down my spine. "Were you two attacked?"

"N-,"

"Yes, Jackie! We were ... attacked! And managed to get the k-knives out of the grunts' hands, but they sent out a Pokémon to paralyze us." Kilik interrupts, letting out a faint groan as he struggles to get up.

"What?! Where the hell are they now?" I demand, jumping up as I look around. They were attacked? Why didn't they call out for one of the officers? My eyes quickly scan the room and listen intently to the area, worried they may still be lurking near. Sneasel leaps over to the boys, sniffing their clothes and circling around, looking puzzled as it keeps sniffing to the trail of grunt scents.

"They left," Kilik explains and Atticus let out an aggravated huff in response but otherwise keeps quiet.

"Oh good hell- get up, can't you two move at all?" I say in disbelief, yanking on Atticus's arm and trying to drag him towards the entrance since carrying a dead weight would be pretty difficult to do. Ugh, is he seriously going to just lay there as I drag him?

"You go and get yourself paralyzed and tell me if you can get up!" Atticus growls in anger as I continued to drag him away. Wow, did he just snap at me? I stare at him before shrugging it off. I would be kicking and screaming too if I was paralyzed like this.

"Hey, wait, don't leave me here behind!" The boy cries in a near hysteric, his eyes tinged with red to prove he's been crying a little. He was probably scared senseless by the Team Rocket grunts.

"Sneasel, get the other one," I order, jutting my head towards the younger boy. Sneasel hops over to him and grabs the back of his collar, dragging him back with difficulty towards the stairs to the first floor. I heavily sigh, propping Atticus by the top as I look down.

"Now how do we get them down-," I start before Sneasel shoves Kidd over the lip of the stairs, sending both boys tumbling down the stairs.

"GUUUUUWAAAAAAAH!" They scream as they knock into each other and the rails, hitting just about everything on their body on the way down.

"Sneasel-!" I angrily snap as I shoot down the stairs. I turn to make a quick glare at Sneasel, seeing him cheekily shrug and leap down the stairs faster than me and reach the bodies, clearly unbothered about shoving them down the stairs. Oh man that's got to hurt. I angrily glare at it as I head down the stairs after him. "If they break a bone, it's your fault-," I barely start before freezing as a flashlight locks onto me. Oh no, the grunts-?!

"Freeze!" The officer shouts along with the growl of a Growlithe. My eyes widen, realizing what he must of thought what happened.

"They aren't dead I swear!"

* * *

"Uh ... why are you staying here again?" I ask as I look to the blonde haired boy's cheerful smile. Why the hell did he have to come to the hotel room with us?

"Because now I'm under investigation too! Isn't that great? Now we can hang out more," he cheerfully grins as I let out a shaky and exhausted sigh.

"Why, why couldn't you have lied and told the police a Pokémon jumped out of nowhere and paralyzed you both? Now we're stuck in this town for even longer!" I grunt before tossing myself back onto the bed with an aggravated groan. This sucks! My gaze turns to Atticus, seeing him all tucked away in his separate bed and ready for sleep. He's been awfully quiet lately.

"Atticus, you feeling alright?" I ask, checking up on him as Sneasel hops onto the foot of my bed, stepping around and around in a small area before laying down with a smug and cheerful smile.

"Uh ... yeah, just tired," he answers, letting out a huff as his figure relaxes. I let out a sigh of my own and lay down in the bed, turning off the lights for the night. It's way too late ... well, now early in the morning to talk. We all just need our sleep.

"Hey, Jackie? I-I'm scared of the dark so can we-,"

"No."

"But-,"

"I said no."

* * *

Of course that's where her mind goes to first XD


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey, hey Jackie wake up, I brought you breakfast~," a too cheerful voice for the morning greeted along with the all consuming smell of a delicious breakfast. I have no idea what he has but it smells absolutely delicious.

Ugh, it's too early to be happy. I crack an eye, spying Kidd walking in carrying a bag expelling the mouth watering foods. Sitting up, I run my fingers through my hair before glancing over to Atticus's bed, finding it empty.

"Hm? Where'd Atticus go?" I ask, pausing to listen to see if the shower was going. Did he take off? Well ... I have been a bit of a jerk to him lately so I can't blame him for ditching. My gaze turns back to the love struck Poochyena, feeling a shiver go down my spine. Oh I'm going to throttle him for leaving me here with this ... this thing.

"He went out for a bit so now we can spend some time together," he lovingly coos, unpacking the pastries from the bag.

"Where. Is. He?" I demand, hopping out of bed as I grab my bag to get changed in the bathroom. Wooper soundly sleeps inside the water filled Rattata ball as I glance at him, seeing its little chest rise and fall with its breaths. Cute~

"Well, he mentioned something about going to go challenge some gym-,"

"HE _WHAT_?!" I shout, flabbergasted. That idiot! That jerk! I bolt into the bathroom, quickly getting dressed before busting back into the room and grabbing my things. I wanted to go and watch him challenge the gym leader so I could study some of the man's attacks. Now I'll be missing some if not all of it. I snatch up my things, slinging the bag over my shoulder and grabbing Wooper before dashing out and leaving some money on the table as a tip for the maid.

"Wait, Jackie! Come back!"

* * *

I barge through the gym doors, ignoring the officers that followed after me and their huffing and puffing. Alright now where is that idiot?! I scan the area before spying two elevators, one missing and one still there, hearing a commotion on a tricky looking floor high up at the top of the gym. What the? This gym is pretty neat looking. But why battle all the way up there? Before Kidd could grab my arm I turn around and stuff my bag and Wooper into his startled arms.

"Hold them for me," I say before leaping onto the elevator. Too impatient to wait for the officers or Kidd I click the button to make the last elevator shoot up to where the fight is taking place. I need to see what kind of techniques this gym leader has for myself.

"Hey!" The officers shout as Kidd cries out for me. Oh please as if there's any danger here.

"Headbutt!" I hear Atticus's voice shout, full of authority and command.

The Turtwig that was up in the air spins down, curled into a ball before sending a harsh Headbutt to the Pidgeotto. The bird Pokémon drops to the ground clearly out after a powerful attack like that. Wow that was impressive. The Turtwig lands on its hind legs placing its front legs down with a cocky grin. Atticus stares with a menacing glare at Falkner who grit his teeth in disbelief.

I step onto the main floor with Sneasel by my side, watching as Falkner casts me a quick glance before concentrating on his challenger. Falkner calls back his Pidgeotto with a Pokeball, hooking it back to his waist before pulling out another. Awesome! I'm not too late to see at least some of this.

"Go, Pidgey!" He calls, expelling a young looking Pidgey. That looks weaker than the Pidgeotto.

"Oi, Turtwig, you want to continue or switch out?" Atticus asks as he crosses his arms, a look of lazy confidence across his face. The Turtwig lowers his head and growls, eager to continue as Falkner's last Pokemon flutters about and waited for orders. Alright ... here we go. I grin at my luck and stay standing, glancing at Sneasel who intensely watches the fight.

"Pidgey, use wing attack!" Falkner orders. I watch as Atticus simply stares at the Pidgey that is heading straight for his Turtwig. Why won't he say anything? Atticus, your Turtwig is about to get screwed.

Turtwig once again leaps up into the air, glaring at the pidgey. It is too far up in the sky to do another Headbutt so what is it doing? With a turn of its head, razor sharp leaves flies up like a rain of daggers at the Pidgey who struggled to dodge and fly around the Razor Leaf, getting hit a few times and losing some feathers but otherwise stayed airborne.

I watch for a few moments, startled as the Pidgey flutters back through the air before regaining its flight, flapping it's wings hard in protest. That ... was interesting. Now that's the kind of brains I expect from someone who is a good battler. Not screaming out orders is smart.

"Let's wrap this up, how about it, Turtwig?" Atticus asks with cocky confidence as Falkner holds out a hand with a grin, clearly invigorated by the fight.

"As if I'll let you! Pidgey, use peck!" The pidgey flaps its wings with all its might as Turtwig nods at Atticus, ready and waiting. With a cry the Pidgey flies after Turtwig with its beak glowing slightly. The Grass Pokémon jumped back as two seeds popped out from the stem on its head, hitting Pidgey on the forehead before engulfing him in vines.

A sudden flash beside me makes my head snap around in horror. Seviper-?! The second Seviper was expelled from the red light it swings it's heavy tail around right at me with an angry and vicious hiss.

"GACK-!" I nearly scream out of shock, tumbling right onto the battle field with the Seviper hot on my tail. Sneasel immediately dashes between us, swiping Seviper across the face to halt its advance before leaping back to my side with a growl.

"What the-!" Falkner cries, startled to see what was happening as everyone turns to witness what is happening.

"Seviper, return return-!" I shout, feeling my gut twist in pain before Seviper dodges the beam of light, knocking the ball from my hand with a powerful swipe. The wind from the slicing attack nearly decapitates my fingers as I quickly pull back, startled. I-It's so fast! Was it holding back before? My eyes widen as the Seviper angrily brings it's violet glowing tail over the Pokeball, shattering it to pieces.

"SON OF A-! THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T WANT YOU HERE!" Atticus shouts with pure anger before regaining at least some of his composure, "Jackie, listen to me, you need to catch that Serviper again at all costs."

"I know that-Gah!" I shout, barely dodging another bone crushing attack from the Seviper's glowing tail. Senasel leaps between her and the Seviper, menacingly growling as it waved back and forth. The Seviper turns its gaze to the Sneasel, hissing at its intrusion.

"Sneasel-!" I cry, startled before biting my lip in frustration. Oh no ... now I can't catch it in any pokeball. I need to make it faint completely.

"Pidgeotto, wing attack!" Falkner shouts as the Flying Pokémon whips forward and bashes against Seviper's side, startling it as I take the chance to get away from it. My eyes lock onto Sneasel making sure it followed me back.

The Turtwig sends two Leech Seeds at Serviper, the sparking vines consuming the snake in its clutches.

"Jackie, come here," Atticus orders, waving me over to him. Seviper lets out and angry hiss as it lashes out at the Pidgeotto while Falkner came to our sides in the Seviper's distraction.

"Return your Pokémon immediately. We must leave until it calms down. I will not have anyone getting injured at my gym," Falkner firmly states, pushing us towards the elevator while keeping a sharp eye on his struggling Pidgeotto. Atticus clicks his tongue to the roof of his mouth as he returns Turtwig to his ball along with me returning Sneasel. I watch as the leech seed slid off of its body, leaving the vines on the ground as it hissed at Pidgeotto.

Falkner hits the switch, making the elevator begin its descent. Before it is hardly three feet down Seviper whips over and lunges at the us, snagging it's jaws around my arm with the fangs barely skimming my skin.

"Seviper no-!" I cry as the Pokémon ripped me off my feet and throws me back onto the field, clearly not done with its revenge.

"Ms-!"

"Jackie!"

I tumble across the field, feeling a bruise coming on as she groaned. Oh that fricking Seviper...! I don't care that it has a grudge against humans from the way Proton mistreated the poor thing. Its needs to be trained or else it will be a menace to others. My eyes scan the field for the Pideotto, spying it lying unconscious on the edge of the field. I whip around with a glare as I pushed myself up, watching Sneasel pop out of its ball, menacingly return Seviper's angry looming eyes. Sneasel has no chance against this thing. Not going head on.

"Sneasel, make fast attacks before quickly retreating each time," I order, hoping that Sneasel's speed will hold up against the Seviper's. With fast movements Sneasel rushes Seviper before quickly retreating, not being able to land a good hit from the Seviper's quick counter attacks and dodging. Only a few scratches landed here and there on Seviper's tough scales. He can't land any good hits because Seviper is faster than Sneasel. I grit my teeth before pausing, remembering what Professor Elm said. Night is a Sneasel's domain ... that's it!

"Sneasel, break the lights! Encase the gym in darkness!" I order. Seviper will probably be able to see leaving me blind as a zubat but I ... need to trust what the Professor said. And this will give Sneasel the best chance of beating that Seviper.

Sneasel huffs before charging at Seviper. The furious Pokémon hisses and lunges at Sneasel but it jumps up, leaping off its head and into the air. With a powerful Scratch it takes out one of the lights, bathing half the tall gym in darkness before swinging across the wires to the other and leaving the gym in complete darkness. My body stiffens up in apprehension, listening to the silence before a loud crash makes me crouch down and cover my head protectively. My heart nervously pounds as frightening hisses and sharp growls sound all around, giving me little indication as to where anything is. If I move from this spot I risk the chance of falling through to the ground with how the gym is set up.

"Jackie, just trust Sneasel! If you stay nervous that Seviper will smell it!" Atticus calls up, making me jerk in surprise to hear his voice through the darkness. He's right ... most Pokémon can smell fear and thrive off of it. The hisses from Seviper begin to sound more and more frustrated as I assume its tail smashes against the ground faster and faster, probably trying to hit Sneasel with no luck.

Oh man Sneasel ... it's really up to you to not let me get crushed.

The only sound audible is my ear and heartbeat. Nothing else. I suck in a deft breath, nervously listening all around to the complete silence. What happened? Did Sneasel beat Seviper or is Seviper munching on Sneasel right now? My heart pounds in my ears as my fingers tremble, a little apprehensive to know the answer. Seviper is obviously much stronger than Sneasel but-

I jolt as dim red lights come on through the silence, cutting through my thoughts like a steel blade. What the-? My head whips around the field, spying Sneasel standing on top of the Fainted Seviper's head with a cheeky grin and its chest puffed up in pride.

"Sneasel-!" I cry, thrilled to see Sneasel practically unharmed. I hurry over and pull it into a hug which it cheerfully returns after a moment of deliberation. My elated joy soon turned to threatening glares towards the Seviper as I set Sneasel down.

Oh you cheeky little snake ... I definitely need to train you before you get me into some real trouble. I dip down and shuffle my arm under its belly, rolling it onto my shoulder with much difficulty. Dang this thing is heavy! My teeth click together as I stand up, wobbling a little bit as I drag it towards the elevator. I pause as I see the smashed control panel on top. Ooh that's bad ... will the elevators still work?

"Sneasel, pick up the Pokeball pieces." I say, seeing it already delicately snatching up the pieces of the shattered Pokeball. It will be a miracle if Nurse Joy can piece that back together.

"The backup generator is up and running. Here comes the working elevator! Make sure to get the damaged pokeball and bring it with you!" Atticus calls up as I head towards the working elevator. Seriously ... why didn't those two come back up on the working elevator? It's not like the power was cut completely unless Sneasel did something to the lights or Seviper broken the building's electricity supply with the box over there. Oh forget it, I'm not going to bother thinking about it.

"Yup," I call down as Sneasel hops over to the elevator and patiently waits for me. I keep a firm grip on the heavy Seviper, letting its head and tail drag across the floor without much care. It's unconscious so it'll be fine. As the elevator descends I spy both Atticus's and Falkner's furious gazes all directed at me. Ooh boy~ yeah, I deserve this. I would be pissed at a trainer too that couldn't control her Pokémon. When the elevator finally stops I wobble from Seviper's weight before dragging Seviper pass them. I pause by Falkner, feeling like I owe him an apology ... and a thick check I'm reluctant to give.

"Uh ... sorry for damaging your gym and interrupting the match. I'm still training Seviper." I pathetically apologize, not entirely sure how much the damages will cost.

"This close ... I was this close, Jackie." Atticus patiently says with a glare as he walks beside me and puts his shoulder under the heavy Seviper, helping to support its heavy weight. Kidd frets and worriedly looks me over, still holding my bag with the egg and Wooper in its ball. "Let's leave. He's going to explode. Thanks a bunch, sweet cheeks." He sarcastically says as I look back and see the ma's fury.

"S-Sorry just call Mr. Para and he will pay for the damages. Ah," I pause. He's going to want his number. "Really sorry about the gym lights and elevator. Mr. Para's number is 540-396-1959." I say before following Atticus outside.

* * *

"We're ... being kicked out?" I ask, making sure I heard the officer right.

"Unfortunately yes. The gym leader Falkner is absolutely livid and everywhere you go you just cause more damage to the city." Officer Jenny sharply reprimands as if all the damages are entirely our fault. "So if you do not mind we would prefer you leave town. By tonight."

"That's pretty soon," I point out, looking outside the Pokecenter and seeing the sunset already coming on. Atticus stays silent as Kidd sits next to me, worriedly staring at me with Poochyena eyes and waiting for me to acknowledge him.

"It is and there is a reason. We have noticed a sudden increase in known Team Rocket sightings inside and outside of town and on the paths leading out of it. The only path which isn't swarming with those crooks is the path to Azaela town." She explains. I lick my lips, having a bad feeling as to where this is going.

"Azaela?" I ask before checking my map, eyes bugging out of my head, "but that's the opposite if where I need to go!" I cry, panicking a little. How am I supposed to reach Ecutreak now?

"Stop it Jackie. What happens, happens. We can get to Ecutreak City still but it'll take longer." Atticus speaks up before giving me an irritated glare that says 'why did you even go to the gym, huh?!' ... he's so pissed ... Did he finally snap? Well I give him credit for not snapping earlier.

"Ugh ... right. Should we leave now?" I ask out loud, watching as Wooper swims around the Rattata ball with the widest grin on its face.

"Might as well, but look on the bright side, we can go look around the ruins before heading to Azalea." Atticus offers as a way to cheer me up.

" ... yeah, true," I agree, wondering why he suddenly seems so nice again. He's been really hot and cold lately and I know it's not his period since he can't have that excuse.

"Yes. So get out," the officer says with an annoyed twitching smile.

"Will do ma'am." Atticus acknowledges as he turns away from the blue-haired officer, "let's go, Jackie," he smoothly orders and with a flip of his hand motions me to follow.

"Okay," I say, hopping up and grabbing my things. Wait ... why did I jump up so fast? I hesitantly shake off the thought and enter into the cool brisk air of the coming night, enjoying the colder chill over my skin. This feels nice. It almost washes away all the troubles that happened today and cools my nerves.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

Almost.

Kidd stumbles out of the Gym and falls onto my arm, making me stagger with him before he stands up with a cheerful and hopeful smile.

"Jackie, Jackie, hang on! I want to ask you something," He excitedly smiles as my heart sinks into my stomach. Don't you dare get on one knee you little pest I _will_ punt you. I cautiously glance at his hands, expecting them to reach for a small box with a cheap ring in it.

"Ask me what?" I cautiously ask, leaning away from him and half expecting Atticus to intervene. I'm more concerned about Atticus than anything else. He has been acting so harsh to me out of nowhere and its making me think I did something particularly evil to him that he didn't quite appreciate. But, I guess I can't blame him. I've treated him like trash since day one.

"I want you to travel with me, Jackie. I have three gym badges so you don't have anything to worry about," Kidd urges, with hopeful eyes as he clasps my hands in his, "I will not fail you, Jackie."

"Wait, seriously? How did you get three gym badges?" I nearly gap, startled that he has even a single gym badge. He doesn't act with confidence and assurance but it makes sense. His Pokémon are clearly much stronger than mine and Atticus's.

"I fought three gyms, of course~ my love is so impressed that I have three," he says, blushing at the happy discovery as he sets his lips on my fingers, startling me, "so that means you'll come with me instead, right?" Kidd asks with those adorable Poochyena eyes. I glance over to Atticus, watching him continue to walk away but at a much slower pace.

"But please? I promise I will make you happy," he continues, gently cupping my cheek and making me look back at him.

"Shut up, Kidd. Just shut. The. Hell. Up!" Turning around, Atticus marches back and grabs the younger boy's collar, "first off, Kidd, its Jackie's decision so stop with all your whining and begging. Second, just because you have three gym badges doesn't mean you can go around and do whatever the hell you want! Third, I know someone who is _much_ stronger than you! The second you two are in battle, the loss will make you shut up and run away with your tail between your legs." He snarls in disgust before letting go and shoving Kidd back. My eyes remain wide and my jaw open. Wow ... I guess all that stress pent up for this one, childishly explosive moment. My jaw clicks shut as he turns to me, "I know he freaks you out but a simple no will do more good than you think. Just ask, and I'll pull him off."

"That was uncalled for, Atticus." I snap, not appreciating how roughly he treated Kidd, "but thanks for the gesture," I tack on, not wanting any bad feelings between us before turning to a startled and frightened looking Kidd. "I'm not going to go with you. I need to go to Azaela. You heard about those grunts; we broke into their warehouse so chances are they are looking for us," I explain, "so I don't want you to come with us. At all."

Immediate heartbreak flashes across his face as his grip tightens.

"No, I don't want to leave. My Pokemon are easily strong enough to-,"

"I said no." I finalize, already seeing what would happen to him if we run into Team Rocket. I was able to bluff us out of most of the troubles in the warehouse but now Team Rocket knows my face. Anyone with me and Atticus are going to get hurt and Kidd is so gentle and kind that I don't think he would be able to take it.

"But Jackie, I am strong! And I won't be defeated by people like Team Rocket," he argues, desperately trying to come up with an argument to change my mind.

"She said no. If she said no once then that means no the second and third time you ask." Atticus growls with a death glare that sends shivers down my spine. Creepy ... it actually looks like he wants to murder Kidd. Kidd's eyes widen, clearly at a loss for words as I slip my fingers out of his gently grasp.

"Goodbye, Kidd. Go work on that fourth badge instead," I say with a half smile, hoping we never run into him again.

"W-Wait! Please, at least let me get your number." He pleads, slipping his hand into my bag's pocket and jumping back with my Pokegear. How did he get that so smoothy? Sneasel growls by my side and steps up to the plate as one of Kidd's balls pop open, unleashing his prized Zangoose in peak condition. Sneasel jumps back, sizing up the formidable enemy as Kidd quickly puts his information into the Pokegear. After a few brief moments of holding it close he steps out from behind his Zangoose and sets it back in my hands with an embarrassed blush. "I-If anything happens, anything at all, just give me a call." He pleads, looking at me with the kind of eyes that a kid uses to get what he wants.

"Spoiled brat." Atticus bitingly growls as I let out a deep sigh, weighing the Pokegear in my hand before putting it back in place.

"I will. Thank you, Kidd." I say, waving him off and joining Atticus walking away from the town.

Only after Kidd is out of sight I let out a relieved sigh, running a hand through my hair. I'm so happy he was too distracted in giving me his number that he didn't ask for mine. I don't need him calling me up every ten minutes to check on me.

"It's about time we got away from him." Atticus deeply sighs as he rubs his eyes, clearly annoyed at all the events that's happened. I walk with him in silence before speaking up top combat his annoyed attitude.

"But hey, you got your Growlithe back," I remind him, looking at the Pokeball that he cradled oh so gently in his hand. He decides not to answer and instead holds the Pokeball a little tighter, seeming satisfied with his prize. Well ... this adventure sure as hell started out with a bigger bang than I liked.

* * *

Alright, 5 more _**REVIEWS**_ for the next chapter~ who thinks Kidd will actually stay away? Or will he latch back onto them as soon as he can? Find out in the next chapter~ :3


	12. Chapter 12

"Think Natu will come out at night?" I ask as I look around the forest for a big green ball of feathers with tiny wings. He seems really determined to catch one. I don't really see why. Yeah they are cute and all but they don't look very strong. The Rattata ball with Wooper inside wobbles a bit back and forth, reminding me about my own Pokémon choices. I shouldn't be judging at all considering I caught Wooper just because. And the coloring just makes it cuter.

"Who knows? But we may find more Pokémon at night. You might find something you'll like." Atticus answers with a glance at Sneasel as we head down the path the officer showed us the other day.

"Fingers crossed since the last one I got is constantly trying to kill me," I sarcastically huff, looking around the open area as we head into the clearing with the shattered pillars. What am I going to do with the Seviper? It's more than vicious. It's just plain murderous and if I don't get a handle on it I have to release it.

"Yet you still keep it. But that's something I respect you for. You won't abandon your partners." Atticus says. Abandon ... no, I never would abandon my Pokémon. Releasing them so they don't cut me up and eat my guts well~ that's a different story. Atticus freezes, catching my attention as he looks up at a Natu staring down at us from a nearby pillar. Well, good luck to you.

Atticus slowly inches ahead as I pause, hearing a faint purring from a bush. I glance over spying a fairly fluffy, sleek Pokémon crawl out of the bushes and stop, sitting back to scratch at its chin with its back leg. I blink, stuffing my inner cries at its cuteness away. No, no more. I'm not catching any more Pokémon until I get a hold of Seviper.

But, I'm curious. I pull out the Pokedex and flip through the pages, looking up what this Pokémon is. Oh, it's a Furret. Interesting. My attention is split from the information on the screen to the adorable fluff ball before me.

The Pokémon adorably purrs before leaning forward to stretch, letting out the cutest yawn before it lifts a paw up to lick it and then proceed to clean its ears. After a brief moment it perks up, making me tense thinking it noticed me, before it paws at a twig and gently picks it up with its jaws.

... I _need_ it!

My eyes flash with greed as Sneasel steps in front, ready to dish out damage while I fumble around for a Pokeball. Without much warning the Furret whips around, vanishing into the bushes. No, come back! I am going to catch you! Sneasel takes off after it first before I quickly follow, watching it run along the edge of the forest and clearing. It's mine, it is _so_ mine.

The Furret cries as it continues to expertly weave between the trees and bushes, narrowly avoiding Sneasel's sharp claws. Sneasel let out a frustrated growl as it bounced off a tree and took after the sharply turning Pokémon, dashing after it into the ruins. I make a sharp turn, spying it vanish behind a corner with a person's hand motionlessly peeking around the bend.

My heart sinks into my stomach as I skid to a stop, breathing hard from the brief chase. H-Hand, that's a human hand right there. I hold completely still, studying the hand to see if it would twitch or move from my not so quiet entrance but it remained lifeless.

... please don't let me find a dead body I really don't need this right now.

"Hey, you alright?" I call, hesitating before circling around to see a man lying on the ground with a trench coat, hat and scarf that completely covered the man's face. The Furret I spied earlier hops onto his chest, making a slight bow with a sad face before setting the stick on the man's chest with a small, whining whimper.

"Hey, hey wake up," I say, kneeling down by the man's side before leaning back and looking to where Atticus was. "ATTICUS! Get in here _now_!" I shout, brushing off the sticks and tiny pebbles as I pat his face through the clothe. I can't tell if he's breathing. He's not giving any other signs of life and this is starting to freak me out.

"What?" Atticus drawls sounding annoyed as his footsteps clap against the rocky floor, slowing down as he turns the corner.

"Doon't...toouch...meee..." the person groans, his voice muffled by the scarf. Atticus trots up to us with Turtwig at his heels.

"What happened?" He asks, looking the man over quickly before also kneeling down.

"I don't know." I answer, trying to find any injuries on his body. Why was he covered in all this debris? My finger hooks around the man's scarf and slides it off along with his hat and goggles, revealing a much younger face than I was expecting. Oh, he looks like he's in his late teens or early twenties.

"What happened to you? Where are you hurt? Who are you?" I calmly ask, trying to find what is wrong with him.

"Ugh ... my name is Mole and no, I don't think I'm hurt," Mole says as he sits up, sleepily staring straight ahead as he runs a hand through his hair. His gaze shifts over to the Furret as its eyes grow wide with joy and ecstatic energy, leaping at him with joyful gladness.

" ... you tried burying me again, didn't you?" He flatly says with a knowing town before letting out a huff and rubbing his eyes. Furret cheerily purrs and ran around him in happy circles, leaping into his shoulder and circling his head in its ecstatic joy that his master is alive.

"Bury you?" I repeat, staring at the cheerful little Pokemon as it stood on his shoulders and eagerly rubbed its head against his cheek. Mole leaned forward on his arms and let out a deep sigh, clearly still waking up from his slumber.

"Sorry, this Furret does this all the time. I believe I actually fell asleep here a day ago and Furret once again buried me under rocks and sticks as some funeral." Mole apologizes before scratching under Furret's chin, causing it to purr.

"Oh ... well, you're alright then?" I ask, my eyes glued to the adorable Furret. I still want one. "Where did you catch this Furret?" I ask, planning to go and nab one for myself if possible. Sneasel lets out a sigh and tugs on my shirt but I hardly notice his clear reluctance at another trip through the woods at this time.

"Oh, this one here?" Mole ponders as he hastily pulls his scarf over his mouth before putting his goggles back on. "You have to catch a Sentret and evolve it. But they aren't good Pokémon for battling." He explains.

"And where are Sentrets?" I eagerly ask, intent on prying the information out of the dazed man. Sneasel huffs and rolls its eyes, glaring at the Furret in annoyance before looking up at me and pulling on my belt loop for my attention. The Furret stars back at Sneasel and hops to the ground, rustling around the debris before pulling out a stick and cutely offering it for him with a delighted purr. Sneasel stares at the fluff ball, clearly not falling for its cuteness as it turns away with its nose in the air, making the Furret's ears droop in puzzlement.

"Hm ... I can't remember," Mole hums, "my father caught it for me a long while ago as a present." He jolts, an arm under Furret and stands up, "I have to go back to father. He must be worried since I haven't contacted him."

"And where is he?" I curious ask, wondering if we happened to be going the same way which is possible with how the events seemed to circle around me lately. And of course if he comes with us I'm all over that adorable Furret.

"We were in a cavern on the way to the cave that takes you to Azalea." He explains.

"There's a cave to Azaela?" I ask, pulling out my Pokegear to check. I wasn't aware we would have to go through a cave. Which is fine but I don't particularly like the idea of being trapped on all sides in a confined space.

"Uh yeah. I thought I told you that?" Atticus says as he looks at me before crossing his arms, "there are Zubats and Geodudes in the cave. Nothing we can't handle. I guess we can have the guy come with us since it's on the way there." He reasons, probably noticing my slight obsession with Mole's Furret.

"Are you alright with that?" Mole asks as he turns to Atticus, probably assuming he's the one leading the group.

"Of course it's okay. Jackie wouldn't complain if she gets to cuddle with the Ferret. Right?" He asks, turning to me as I look at the Furret.

"Lemme hold him," I ask, reaching over and gently taking the Furret from the man's arms. So, so cute-!

I told you," Atticus smirks as the both of them watched me look at the Furret, fascinated by its cuteness. It's just got the cutest little button nose! The Furret stares back before leaning closer to my face, curious, before tapping its little nose to mine as a little kiss. Cute~

"He's traveling with us. But I'm holding Furret," I cheerfully smile, cradling the adorable Pokémon in my arm and gently poking its stomach, watching it squirm around in a playful delight. I honestly can't decide who's cuter, Wooper or Furret. I can't really pet and hold Wooper like this but Wooper's body feels more plush. But Furret has such soft fur~

"If you insist but only until I get to the cavern. We part there since I will stay with my father." Mole says as he dusts off his clothes, casting me a slightly worried glance. I'm not going to lie he _should_ be worried. I'm tempted to take this little cutie off his hands and keep him for myself. "But I'm fine with the miss holding Furret. She can get really needy for attention."

"That one too," Atticus says, pointing to me as I more than happily runs my fingers through Furret's soft and velvety fur. I take the insult in stride, not really caring since I have the Furret to distract me.

"Hm ... we should stay here until morning. It's still dark out," Mole says with a sigh, sitting down and leaning against the wall, "it's a day's trip to get down to the cave so we should leave at dawn," he explains.

"We have a tent so we could probably get some walking done tonight. No worries." I say as the Furret snuggles into my neck. Ah, this cutie is so soft and warm...

"Traveling at night isn't very safe not to mention the coming rain," Mole reminds me, "and there's been more Team Rocket grunts around here than I've seen for a while." Both Atticus and I pause, knowing exactly why that is. Oh man ... they've already traveled out this way too? Just how many members are looking for us? I shiver slightly and move to get the tent but both Atticus and Mole already take the bag and unravel it. After a few moments of awkwardly standing in their way I walk off to the side and lean against one of the pillars, numbly petting Furret on the head.

This ... is weird. People are setting up the tent that I'm going to be sleeping in for the night. Well, we all will be but I feel kind of useless just standing here holding the Furret and just watching them. But I guess they got it. A small cold drop touches my head as I look up to the sky, seeing light gray clouds floating overhead. Hm ... it doesn't look like it will thunder or lightning tonight. The colors of the rain clouds are lighter than the one a few nights ago.

"Everyone in." Atticus says as I look over, seeing that they had combined their tents together to give us both some more space while sleeping. Well that's good because I know for a fact that I'm a kicker. I head over and slip into the opening, crawling over to the side so I won't have to take middle. Sleeping next to a guy, fine, but next to two? Nope, not happening. Furret cheerfully leaps from my arms and dances around my legs as I sit down, safely setting Wooper and the bag with the egg down by my feet.

Sneasel glances at the bag and Wooper, studying their placement before noticing me looking at him. He grins and hops over to me, cheerfully nuzzling up against the crook of my neck while I unhook my Pokémon belts and set them around the straps of the bag. I'm more tired than I realized. The moment Mole claimed his place at the other end of the tent Furret perked up, cheerfully hopping over to its rightful master in high arching pounces before leaping onto him and rolling all over his stomach in a playful manner.

I chuckle and grab a blanket for myself, watching as Sneasel trots over and cuddles beside me for the night. A smile slowly curls my lips up as I pat its head, gently rustling my fingers in his fur. He really is too cute. I sit up and gently pet his ear, listening to his soft purrs of encouragement for me to continue. I guess I've kind of neglected him up to this point what with the Wooper and Furret in my eyes. My finger softly traces the outline to the tear in his ear, sadly smiling before lightly scratching the base of his ear. What kind of monster could do this to such a loving Sneasel? He seems much more friendly than what I've seen and heard about them from other people.

"I hope you aren't a kicker," Atticus says as he steps inside and zips up the entrance for the night. I sheepishly smile and look away, pulling my arm back from the cheerfully affectionate Sneasel before laying on my side. I just need to try and direct my kicks the other way is all. Sneasel huffs, sounding annoyed as he crawls over my side and takes my hand, lifting my limp arm up so my hand was on his head. A smile tugs my lips up as I rub his head a few times before cozying back into the sleeping bag for some sleep.

"Behave tonight, Sneasel." I say, assuming he would probably still be up and kicking long past my point of falling asleep. It smiles and gives a sharp nod, sitting at the corner of the tent by my head as I close my eyes to get some sleep.

* * *

SNEASEL'S POV

Sneasel's eyes never leave the bag or Wooper as his female human slept. So much cooing and affection for other Pokémon makes him sick. He was just as cute, if not more cute than that swimming fish in the clear ball filled with water. And he was stronger, wiser and faster than that ball of plush flesh so what was its attraction? It has not claws for defense nor teeth to bite. It's a waste of space and is only good for some entertainment here and there.

His eyes glance over to the sleeping humans, slowly and quietly creeping to his feet as he silently walks across the tarp to sit before Wooper. That Furret will leave when the human male cocoon does but Wooper will forever be with his female human ... unless something happens to him.

A twisted and devious smile curves Sneasel's lips up as he slowly reaches for the rocking ball, tapping the top of the plastic ball to hold it still while Wooper swims around in slow circles, even in sleep. If the ball doesn't rock, or if Wooper stops swimming, would it still breath? Or maybe the Wooper will simply make a quick morsel for him?

He watches the mouthful of a potential meal continue to swim around, blissfully asleep. The remembrance of a Wooper's taste all but got rid of his appetite as he huffs in disgust, leaning back against the female human's leg. The taste of Wooper mucus covering Wooper's skin, as learned from experience, does not fare well in a Sneasel's stomach.

"Hmmnnrrr snow ... blech, no snow, no snow ... ," the female human murmurs as her foot suddenly jutsout, kicking the bag and Pokeballs tumbling out a small hole in the overlapping tents. Sneasel immediately perks up, listening intently as everything falls silent. Through the crack in the tent he spies that the capsule carrying the egg has spilled out of the back, teasing him with the delicious promise of the yolk inside. Another bit of competition gone and a delicious meal promised? Sounds almost too good to be true.

Sneasel's greed gets the best of him as he licks his lips and slips out the crack, casting the female human a glance. She won't mind if she never discovers what happened. Sneasel crawls out of the tent and hops over to the back, stumbling a bit as his foot gets caught on the Pokeball belt. With a roll of his eyes he kicks it off, hearing a click as his foot taps against the button of a Pokeball. He immediately leaps further than intended, clearing the egg as he spins around and lays low to the ground.

A hiss fills the clearing as the Seviper's eyes spot Sneasel poorly hidden amongst the grass. Its tail waves back and forth menacingly before pausing, him too catching sight of the delicious egg all wrapped up inside the Pokeball capsule. With a quick hiss he juts forward, intending to swallow the container whole as Sneasel lurches forward, snatching the container up and leaping over Seviper's sharply fanged mouth.

Sneasel kicked off of Seviper's back and leapt through the air, stumbling back with the awkward to hold container before bolting off into the woods, planning to lose the Seviper in the dense vegetation and the dead of night darkness.

Seviper hisses in frustration before quickly taking off after Sneasel almost immediately catching up. Seviper is much faster than Sneasel but Sneasel's agility is unmatched. Sneasel clicks his teeth together as Seviper nips at his tail, nearly biting all three off before he makes a sudden dart to the right with a plan to outmaneuver the larger serpent.

A very sudden hard object slams against Sneasel's side, heaving him back into the clearing. His eyes widen as he smacks against the Seviper that suffered the same fate, barely staggering to his feet before the Pokeball capsule is slipped out of his arms. With an angry growl he leaps up, startled to see a group of powerful looking Pokémon looking down at him. His ears lower as he cautiously studies the three Pokémon; a Banette, an Absol, and a Lucario.

"Hypnosis," a human voice speaks from behind. Sneasel bulks, whipping around just in time to be caught in a Haunter's hypnosis trap. Sneasel wobbles on his feet, barely seeing the blur of violet gasses the Haunter naturally admits before falling to his side. 

* * *

What's going to happen now on their adventure? Who was this stranger? **_5 REVIEWS_ **to find out!


	13. Chapter 13

Furret cheerfully crawls up Mole's leg as he holds the metal mug and sits on his shoulder, watching her owner sip some sort of beverage from the cup. Traitor ... that Furret hasn't come up to me yet this morning. But then again, it's for the best. I probably wouldn't give her back. I cradle the cup and take a small sip, enjoying the taste of the cocoa Mole made.

Sneasel, instead of enjoying the foot and chilly air, walked around the clearing, looking tense and unhappy for some reason. With him so tense it makes me wonder if last night he heard a Pokemon come near our campsite and is now trying to figure out what it is.

"Sneasel, come here," I beckon, picking up a nearby apple and trying to make it relax. Sneasel hardly gives me a passing glance as it continues to look around the clearing, making me sigh. It'll get bored eventually. I sip on the hot chocolate, enjoying the savory taste in my mouth.

"This tastes really good." I note, enjoying the shade of an apple tree and the brisk morning air. All our Pokémon are out, indulging themselves on the apples around the ground.

My eyes glance over to Seviper, watching it moping near the bushes and steadily ignoring everyone. I'll bet it's too stressed to eat. It must be hungry because I know I didn't feed it yet and who knows when the last time was that Proton fed it. Anger riddles in my gut as I glance at my bag, imagining what he would do if I put that shock collar on him and click the hell out of the button. I kept it in case I would need it to train Seviper but now that it has calmed down it doesn't look like it will intentionally go out and try to mass murder everything.

"It's just cocoa mix." Mole finally answers after a long sip as he holds the mug up for Furret to have a taste. Furret delightfully purrs as she sets her paws at the edge of the drink, lapping up some of the hot chocolate. Uhh ... I don't think I love my Pokemon that much. This hot cocoa is mine and mine alone no ifs ands or buts about it.

I take another sip and glance at Seviper. It needs to eat something whether it wants to or not. I set the cup aside and walk around the tree, picking up the uneaten apples. There's no better way to get to a Pokemon than through its stomach. That's what Grandma always used to say to me. I walk over with a large armful of food and set a large pile by the pillar before making trail leading to Seviper. And now all I need to do is wait. I trot over to the pillar, returning to the sweet hot chocolate and taking a sip.

I watch the trail of fruit go uneaten as I stare at the Seviper, waiting for it to move but it only budges to make its head more comfortable in the grass. Hm, it needs some teasing I guess. With a huff Sneasel lumbers over and plops down beside me, clearly looking unhappy with his findings. Oh perfect timing.

I hold an apple out for Sneasel who gladly takes it, about to take a bite before glancing over to Seviper. A mischievous grin pulls its lips up as it and hurries over to Seviper. Oh Sneasel, at least I can count on your naughty nature to do this much for me. The Sneasel takes a loud bite out of the apple, making sure Seviper heard the loud crunch.

Seviper glances over as Sneasel sits down and continues to munch on the apple in front of Seviper, making it salivate with greedy desire in its slit eyes. It hisses at Sneasel and glances over to the trail of apples, flicking its tail in thought before stretching out its neck, catching an apple up and flipping it into its mouth.

The crisp, sweetness of the red fruit obviously leaves the Seviper wanting a bit more through the desire in its eyes alone. Its head snaps to the side, examining the second apple with more confidence before diving for it and devouring it whole. Its tongue flickers out as it studies the pile beside me, weighing its options before slowly slithering over and stretching its neck out. With eyes locked onto me it nips at the stem and drags the apple back before slowly tilting it's head and popping it into its gapping gullet, swallowing the apple.

I look away, letting the Seviper get a little more comfortable. Grandma was right. Good food is the answer to all the problems in the world. Seviper gains more confidence as it slithers around the pile of apples, claiming them all to itself before beginning to greedily devour them one by one. And now to make it warm up to me.

While Seviper is busy gorging itself on the surplus of food I reach out and press my palm against its forehead. It pauses for a brief moment, choosing to further delight itself in the pleasures of the tasty apples rather than bite my hand off. I grin at my little victory and lean back on the pillar, setting my hand on my lap as I sip the hot chocolate. It's a small win but I accept it. The moment Seviper finished devouring every single apple in the pile it simply crawls back to its spot in the sun and lays down to sunbathe.

I chuckle and open the top of Woopers ball, sprinkling in some of the nutrients for it to suck up into its gills. Wooper energetically swims around in the water absolutely excited and elated at the present food in the water, breathing faster to suck up as much of the tasty treat as possible. I smile and pick up my bag, shuffling it down as I take the egg out to examine.

The case looks a little different than before. There are some smudge marks of mud on the corners and I have no idea how they got there. I twist and turn the capsule with the egg, trying to figure out where and how it could have possibly gotten there. It almost looks like mud had got on it and someone tried to wipe it off. I stare at the moderately large egg and then, with little warning, it moved a little.

"Whoa! It moved!" I shout, excited as I intently stare at the egg and await seeing my new baby Pokémon. No matter how hard I stared at it the egg stayed still as if knowing that I was watching it. Ooh~ I'm gonna get you~ just come on out~ I grin as I mentally try to communicate how badly I want it to hatch.

"That just means it's going to hatch in a few days or even a few hours." Mole notes as he finishes his cocoa, glancing over and looking at the egg capsule. "Since it moved, it's a healthy egg."

"Really?" I say, ecstatic about the news as I greedily eye the egg and wonder what can possibly be inside of it. The suspense is killing me here!

"Yes." He holds out a small blue berry for Furret to eat, "just keep it out of harm's way and it'll hatch just fine."

"Yay~," I grin, excited to have another cute baby Pokémon in my possession. And if it's not cute hopefully its strong like Seviper or Sneasel. Though I'm sure Seviper is another ten levels above Sneasel, easily. I glance over to the duo, spying Seviper calmly laying in the sun and Sneasel sitting in front of it, trying to tempt it to eat more apples as it munches on another. I wonder what its level is in comparison to Sneasel. Both are fast but Seviper is for sure stronger and faster.

Mole walks over to the combined tents ready to wake Atticus up and get on our way to the cave. I look over and watch as he opens the flap, freezing and visibly tensing up underneath his many layers of clothes. Hm, is something wrong?

"H-Hey, Jackie. Come over. Look at this." He says in a talking whisper, waving his hand over as he looks back into the tent and looks around it. I set the mug down and walk over to him as he points inside the tent

"What?" I ask with a pleasant hum, looking inside the tent. I nearly let out a burst of laughter before wisely and quickly covering my mouth, spying Natus in every corner and side of the tent all staring at the slumbering Atticus. One in particular that was one his hip tilted his head before pecking his side once, twice, and then thrice. Oh~ my~

"Hmff...quit it, Ada... It's too early..." Atticus mumbles in his sleep, lazily lifting a hand to wave the Natu away before pulling the blanket over his head. "I'll eat later ... ," he murmurs as he lets out a deep sighing breath. The Natu holds completely still as more gather on his body, all staring at where his head is under the blanket before they all tilt their heads.

" ... pffft ... I have to, I really have to," I snicker, getting a stick and repeatedly poking his foot to wake him up. I need to see his reaction to all the Natus in the tent. Atticus flinches, clutching the edge of the blanket tighter before groaning.

"Ugh ... what is it?" He sits up, massaging his shoulder and yawns before freezing, spying all the Natus staring at him, tilting their heads simultaneously. "Natu ... ?"

Before he can fully understand what is happening the Natu take off in a frenzied hurry. I jerk back with Mole as he pulls me behind him, watching as the tent explodes with life and feathers flying everywhere.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Atticus screams inside the tent, fumbling around and struggling to find the exit within. I explode with laughter and clutch my stomach, keeping clear of the frenzied panic flipping the tent around. With an explosion the Natus fly out of the open tent, hopping off different directions and some taking flight for a few moments before also hopping for their life. Atticus clumsily stumbles out of the tent, shooing them away and coughing out a feather or two.

"What were they all doing in there?!" He cries, gasping in his shock and horror at the startling wake up call. My shaky knees give out as I drop to the ground clutching my stomach. The laughter rips out my mouth in a never ending stream as I roll onto my back and fill the clearing with my laughter. Oh, oh my goodness, my stomach hurts-!

"Where they watching me sleep?! And you let them?!" Atticus complains as he clutches his chest, rasping for air in his shock "Jackie, stop laughing! It's not funny!"

"I'm sorry, I'm not sorry, I'm not sorry~y~y~y-!" I hysterically howl as I roll on the ground, trying to ride out the rest of the trembling laughter before shakily standing up with a snicker. I cover my mouth and try to quiet my snicker, noticing Sneasel hopping around the clearing and chasing after some Natus that weren't fast enough to get away.

"Know what? Because you laughed, _I'm_ going to carry Furret. Here girl!" Atticus calls out as Furret jumps from Mole's shoulder and lands in Atticus's awaiting arms. He grins as he pets Furret's head, enjoying the soft petting. "Take that, Jackie," he says, sticking his tongue out as Furret nuzzles up under Atticus's chin. Oh so childish. I chuckle, deciding to let out my inner child a little bit to.

"No, no, not fair-!" I laugh, wiping a tear from my eye. I can part from Furret for a little bit. I want to hold the Pokémon egg in my arms for the rest of the trip to watch it as it hatches. I glance over to the Pokémon, watching as they eat in peace from one another in the most part. If we are going to be traveling for a bit the Pokémon need to get to know each other a little more.

"Hm~ think the Pokémon need some exercise? I think I'm going to keep mine out while we walk." I chuckle, spying Sneasel intently staring at the egg. Sneasel's sneaky eyes glance up to me as an innocent smile lights up its face. Cute~

"Watching over the egg for me? Thank you, Sneasel." I smile, putting Wooper in the bag and holding the egg capsule firmly in my arms. It's a little bulky and awkward to carry but I want to see it hatch. Sneasel jumps on my back, startling me as it wraps its arms around my shoulders and settles his head on the same shoulder the egg is resting against.

"Wait, Jackie that's not a good idea." Atticus begins before hesitating.

"What's not? Putting Wooper in the bag?" I ask, looking back at the draw string bag and seeing Wooper cheerfully swimming around and around in the ball through the crack in the drawstrings.

"It would be a rather unwise decision to let Sneasel near the egg." Mole cuts in as Furret paws in Jackie's direction from Atticus's arms, wanting to be held by me.

"Why's that?" I ask as I look over Sneasel's innocent and cheerful smile before it nuzzles against my cheek, all the while staring at the egg with a grin. Atticus and Mole glanced at each other before shrugging, much to my annoyance and confusion. Oh so is this some guy secret I'm not allowed to know? Idiots.

TIME SKIPPITY SKIP

"The cavern isn't too far away, I promise. I'll be out of your hair as soon as I can." Mole says as we head down the path towards the caves.

"Don't be so pessimistic. I'm just happy we have a guide," I smile, busting his balls a bit as Sneasel cheerfully trots alongside me. I glance over my shoulder, watching Seviper slithering along the path almost a dozen feet away from us. At least this is an improvement from the time in the gym. Its sharp eyes catch my gaze, immediately turning hostile with a hiss building up in its throat. I turn my gaze away hearing the hissing die down to a very low, barely audible throaty growling. It's warming up to me for sure. Slowly but surely.

"WHOA! Is that a Seviper?!" Someone shouts, catching my attention. I bulk as a sweaty, heavily breathing man waddles up to us with large circle glasses and a Pokedex in his chubby hand, his eyes locked onto Seviper's startled gaze. "I've never seen one up close before! Who's is it?! I will trade anything!" He cries as Seviper inches away from the man.

Seviper lets out a warning hiss and slightly wavers its tail as warning but the man was relentless as he brazenly grabbed Seviper's jaws and poked somewhere on its neck to make it tense up and freeze. He pries Seviper's mouth open with his pudgy fingers, looking deep down into the serpent's gullet with little hesitation.

... did he just acupuncture my Seviper? My maternal instinct flicks on as I whip my hand forward and deliver an awfully loud slap across the pudgy ball of flesh's arm as I step between him and my Seviper.

"Hands off my Seviper, man." I say, feeling my hand sting slightly from the harsh contact. I don't like him going off and touching my Seviper when it hardly lets me get near it. My other hand gently trails under Seviper's jaw, feeling it remain tense as it lets out an aggravated hiss. "You have no right to go around jamming your fingers into my Pokémon's neck."

"S-Sorry, but this is the first time I've ever seen one in person," he nearly drools, heavily breathing with the prize of Seviper gleaming in his glasses. Seviper pokes its head under my arm, parting its jaws to let out a gruff hiss. I lean over and rest my arm on top of its large scaly head, trying to make it submit so it doesn't suddenly lunge and bite the man's head off. I'm going to have to find somewhere to buy Seviper antidote in the worst case scenario if it bites me. Or someone else. "Would you like to trade your Seviper to me?"

"Ugh. Pokemaniacs ... ," Atticus groans as he holds a hand on his Pokeballs, glaring at the nerd. Well at least

"Uh ... no, no I think I'm good-," I start as I readjust my bag, feeling it slip off my shoulder. His beady eyes snap over to the bag as his jaw drops. Uh oh.

"Is that a shiny Wooper?!" The man cries, nearly losing his head as he spies Wooper swimming around in the Rattata ball from within the opening in the bag. Oh man now I doubt he's going to leave unless I agree to a trade. "That's amazing! Where did you get them?"

"Stole them," I simply state, keeping an easy gaze on the man as his face falls blank. Hopefully that will deter him from bothering us.

"Stole?" He repeats, his eyes going wide behind the glasses as he freezes.

"Yup." I say, popping the 'p' and walk past him. "Sorry, but I need to go."

"Wait, wait I don't care! At least look at my Pokémon before you decide to not trade that magnificent beast! Either one would be amazing!" He cries, grabbing my shoulder with desperation in his twisting sweat crusted lips.

"Whoa, let go of her, if she said no, she said no!" Atticus warns as he pulls the guy's hand off of my shoulder. Hardly a second later Seviper's jaws snap shut where his hand just was, letting out a rattling hiss as it moves its head back to strike.

"Hey, Seviper, that's enough." I say, pushing my shoulders and back against its body in an attempt to make it at least hesitate in attacking.

"Wait, wait just look!" He says, quickly unclipping his Pokeballs and tossing them in the air. "E-Everyone, come out quickly!" Red light burst from the Pokeballs, expelling six Pokemon of varying shapes and sizes. As he begins to babble on about each one I look them up in my Pokedex and find that out of the group there's a Dunsparce, a Golem, a Victreebell, a Seaking, a Flareon and an Espeon. I blink, genuinely impressed with his selection and the fact he already has a full team. Not bad. That purple one, the Espeon is pretty cute. If I do trade Seviper ... which would I pick? Oh, and it's psychic too. Those are good.

"Alright, fine. You want to trade?" I say, kneeling down and petting Seviper's head as he stares at the man, looking almost trying to figure out how it would devour the oversized morsel. I carefully reconsider my offer, eyeing up the healthy looking Pokémon. Yeah Seviper is a pain but it's the most powerful Pokémon I have and I don't want to give that up. Plus, as much as I don't want to admit it, Seviper is starting to grow on me no matter how much I try to deny it. So maybe it's better to trade it? My eyes look over the Seviper, considering the options before as its bright eyes flash, clearly aggravated with the man.

I have a feeling if I trade him that man will be dead on day two at best. I let out a heavy sigh, rubbing my hand over Seviper's neck and watching its intense gaze eyeing up some of the smaller Pokémon in the man's collection. Dang it I got attached to it without realizing it.

"Y-yes! Everyone, come on! Do your best to impress her! I _want_ that Serviper," the man smiles as the Pokémon sit there, staring into my eyes as if begging for me to take them off the man's hands.

" ... dude it's not happening." I bluntly state as the man's jaw drops in shock and horror. If I let Seviper go it will go and devour every Pokémon it sees. I have a feeling this Seviper would be a glutton if I let it

"B-But please! That Seviper would be beautiful to my collection!" He cries, clearly desperate. "I-I know! A double battle! Please double battle me so that you may know of my Pokémon's amazing talents!"

" ... seriously?" I breathe, a little nervous. If I agree then this would technically be my first battle against a trainer. Up until now I haven't been able to battle anyone and now that an opportunity is presenting itself this may turn out interesting. "What do you think?" I ask, trying to see into Seviper's eyes. The Seviper hisses as I spy the disgust in its eyes as it turns away with a stubborn demeanor that makes me think it will refuse to fight for me. Oh, oh no, I'm not having this. My eyes narrow as I brazenly grab its fang and shove it's head down to my level, firmly staring into its eyes with unwavering decision.

"If you don't fight I _will_ consider trading you to that guy," I warn, jutting a thumb to the man and making Seviper look at him. The man heavily breathes as he looks to Seviper with greedy eyes, wiggling his fingers in the air with a looming presence. Seviper's jaw cracked open, seeming shocked at the predicament it is in before lowering its head in defeat.

"That's what I thought," I say, gently rubbing under Seviper's chin as I step aside and look to the man. But the only other Pokémon I have for a double battle is Sneasel and he can't really fight. Not in the open, anyway. But with Seviper acting as the man driving force Sneasel might be able to use that to its advantage.

"I guess my only other option is Sneasel," I reason, looking over to Sneasel's smirking grin as it looks to be gearing up for the fight. Oh good, it looks like it's up for this. "Sneasel, remember when you fought before? Do exactly that," in other words hang back, let Seviper do the heavy lifting and deliver the final blow with deadly precision. Sneasel's terribly sadistic grin only widens as it leaps in front of me, glaring over its opponents with a gleeful excitement.

I can't lie, I'm really nervous. I've never been in a fight before and I have no idea how to really direct them or what orders to give. I don't want to lose and admit defeat to this ... heavily breathing ball of sweat. There's nothing wrong with being heavy but this guy is just plain creepy there's no benefit of the doubt I can give him.

"You're nervous?" Mole asks as he steps up beside me, reminding me I have a small audience watching. Oh goodie more stress.

"It's my first battle," I admit under my breath, not wanting this panting beach ball to hear me. Though I'm alone with my Pokémon in this double battle I feel kind of ... excited to see what happens.

"I can battle with you, Jackie. Or Atticus as well," Mole kindly offers, "sure you would like to battle with your Sneasel, but you only have two Pokémon that are capable of battling. If one of them is taken out then the can be overwhelmed. After all, he has some Pokémon that will be super effective against a dark and poison type like you have with you." Mole explains. Wow ... through that explanation is about the stupidest I've ever felt. All three of these guys seem to have so much more experience than I do and that's a little intimidating.

"Huh ... I'm fine battling with either of you really. But at the same time I just want to see what happens." I honestly say, "I may not have Potions but I saw an Oran berry bush on the way here and picked some of them," I note, thinking I could use some to help heal them afterwards. But if one faints it would just have to sleep it off. "You mind if one of these guysi coaches me a little? I'm not very experienced," I admit, not wanting to say I'm a complete battle virgin. I have a feeling he would take advantage of that.

"Not at all. The point of the battle is to impress you with my collection." He grins as he wipes at his sweaty face with a completely soaked handkerchief before putting it back into his pocket.

... ew.

"Well, which will it be? You or me?" Mole asks Atticus.

"You can. I'll take this time to eat something," he says, sitting down on a nearby rock to watch the show as he slips out an apple for himself. Oh right, he didn't get to eat anything before we left.

"Huh ... Mole, what do I have to look out for the most in this type wise?" I ask, deciding to go ahead and let Mole help me out. I seriously need to get a chart or something as to what's super effective to who.

"Watch out for his Espeon the most. He will be super effective against Seviper but have little to no effect on Sneasel. Victreebel may have some Bug attacks so keep him busy with Seviper. Bug is super effective against Dark so don't let Sneasel get it by it." Mole replies automatically as he carefully studies my enemies.

"Yeah ... right. Alright Seviper, Sneseal, you're up," I grin, watching the two get into position.

"Alright. Now I'm sure you've thought about it but let Sneasel be-," Mole starts as Furret jumps off of Atticus's shoulder, hurrying over to Mole and tugging on his pant leg. Mole glances down, staring at Furrent's eager eyes. "No, you're not fighting today, Furret."

Furret's ears droop as it sadly and cutely whimpers, pawing at his pant leg in a begging manner. Mole rolls his eyes and scoops Furret up, gently rubbing her head to appease the needy little Pokémon.

"A Sneasel! So magnificent!" He cries, practically drooling over the selection before him.

"Um ... so what are your Pokémon?" I ask, trying to figure out which of his Pokémon he'll choose. Mole was already pointing out Espeon and Vicreebell as the ones that will give me the most trouble so the guy will probably choose those.

"Oh of course! I shall choose my magnificent Espeon and Victreebell," he says, returning the others and letting the two Pokémon step up to the plate for battle.

"Think we can do this?" I ask with a glance in Mole's direction.

"You can manage. All we need to worry is your Seviper listening."

"Yeah." I agree. Seviper is powerful but it's a wild card. There's no telling when the slippery Pokémon will whip around and decide to cut me in half.

"Ready? Let's fight!" The fat slob grins before Seviper snaps forward. Before I can blink and register what happened Seviper sinks its fangs into the Espeon while slamming its tail against the Victreebel. Both let out a loud cry as the Victreebel tumbles over the ground, barely swinging back up before Espeon is thrown against it. Both Pokémon stumble to the side before Seviper rushes them with all intentions to destroy.

"H-Hey! Seviper! Slow it down!" I order when I get my voice back. I can't believe it. The second it could it just rushed them, completely throwing the two off their game. Now that's a good strategy to have if the opponents are jumpy like this.

"Augh! Wait! It's too sudden! My precious Pokémon!" The Pokemaniac shouts as he covers his mouth, mortified at how fast Seviper struck his Pokémon. Espeon barely gets out of the way as Seviper delivers a crushing Bite over Victreebel's main body, shaking it back and forth like a rag doll before tossing the limp Pokémon aside. It slowly turns its attention back to the smaller Pokémon, delivering a frightening Glare in Espeon's direction.

"N-Now! Espeon, Quick Attack!" The man shouts.

"Oh man, Seviper isn't holding anything back," Atticus comments as he pets a crestfallen Furret moping in his arms. I glare at Seviper, trying to figure out what to do to control it.

"Seviper! Hey! Listen to me!" I yell as I watch Seviper slowly slither towards the Pokémon. Espeon's legs lock up as it freezes, visibly trembling before suddenly whipping around and diving at its trainer. Seviper's head pops up as an unmistakable blood thirst slips into its eye. Oh no.

"Gahh! Enough! I don't care anymore!" The man clumsily pulls out his Pokeball, returning the injured Victorebell back before quickly picking up the trembling Espeon and backing away from the predator. Without a second thought I dash forward. If Seviper attacks the trainer then he could report it to the police. And then I would lose Seviper forever.

My chest tightens at the thought as I leap into the air, watching Seviper's head turn in my direction a little too late. With momentum as an ally I drive my feet against the side of Seviper's head, tumbling to the side with it. Seviper's heavy body crushes my leg underneath as I slip myself out and hook my arm under Seviper's chin to choke it out. With all my weight I lean onto its head, fumbling around my belt for its Pokeball. I suck in a fast breath as Seviper hisses, tossing its head back and forth against the ground and dragging me with it.

"That Seviper-! It's a monster!" The Pokemanic cries, making both of us freeze up. Monster? A cord is struck deep inside my chest as Seviper holds still. Seviper? "That kind of power is impossible! How in the world did you raise that thing to be so evil?! It took out my Victreebel and Espeon without a break in attack! It's not normal! It's disgusting!" He shouts as he backs up with his frightened Espeon in arm.

I hesitantly lean back, seeing Seviper looking up at the overweight man with ... eyes. The emotional conflicting pain swirling around Seviper's eyes is unmistakable as it clearly absorbs every word the man says with a near perfect understanding of words and emotions.

Pokémon ... can feel this much?

I never realized just how deep emotions can run with Pokémon. All I've ever seen are Pokémon that are less intelligent than humans being used as tools for aide. Not feeling. Never feeling anything, just doing as they are told ... but I never realized I am so wrong. The intelligence and understanding in this creature is so vast and immense I may never be able to fully understand.

" ... monster!" The Pokemaniac's voice suddenly jolts me into reality with the word as I watch Seviper's jaws crack open and let out a hiss. My eyes fill with a fiery rage. This monster is hurting my baby and it's going to stop.

"That's enough you unintelligent being of stupidity." I bitingly growl, getting up from Seviper and stepping in front of it. The man's eyes behind the glasses shrink slightly as he backs up.

"Don't come near me! Both of you are-,"

"Monsters? Because we know how to fight?" I say as I walk up to him without a break in stride. He grasps his chest in one hand as he backs up, never letting me within two feet of him while I advance, "because we show little mercy? Because we know just how jacked life can be with a crappy dealt hand?" I continue as I continue to walk towards him.

"Hey, hey Jackie that's enough," Atticus says as I hear a sharp hiss from Seviper. I refuse to let the man's beady eyes leave my gaze as I reach out, touching his wrist holding his Espeon.

"You think we are monsters because of how we act? Of how we praise or insult?" I continue in a softer tone.

"Wh-What?" He stammers, not understanding my fury and anger. And he has a right to not understand. To him, this is all babble from some crazy chick he just fought with. This sort of emotional ball of messy and unintelligible babble means nothing. So where is it coming from, deep inside me? Is this the sort of frustrations that are deicing to show its face to some weird unlucky stranger? That's not fair and frankly ... I don't care.

"Jackie, enough," Atticus says as a firm grasp pulls me back. I snap to reality, looking back to Atticus as he looks at me with concern and confusion. "Jackie," he repeats, making sure he has my full and undivided attention. I stare into his hard eyes for a few moments, feeling the Pokemaniac break out of my gentle grasp and take off fumbling down the road with a loud frightened cry.

" ... ugh," I heavily sigh, holding my head in my hand as I look away, "sorry. I ... don't know what happened." I suddenly got so defensive. Why? I have no idea why. Because I saw that same kind of loneliness and fright deep in Seviper's eyes? My gaze slide over to Seviper, watching it stare at me with an odd sort of intensity with a softer edge. Forget it, a Pokémon is a Pokémon, creatures who mostly think with their gut.

"You got a little weird there. You sure?" Atticus persists, carefully looking into my eyes with a dangerous sense of concern.

"You're right, you're right, I went off my rocker a little bit. Let's just keep moving." I say, running a hand through my hair before pushing him away.

"It's this way," Mole says, waiting for us to collect ourselves before starting to walk. I trail behind them all with Sneasel hopping cheerfully along my side, reaching up and holding onto my pant leg as Seviper quietly follows.

I'm too immature. I can't believe I let my emotions get the better of me in front of that Pokemaniac or whatever he was. A deep sigh slips past my lips as I rub my forehead, trying to figure out what to do. Just great.

"Like, ohmigosh, that Seviper is, like, super!"

Why does life hate me?

I glance back, seeing a navy haired girl wearing green overalls trotting over with her Pokegear practically glued to her hear. "Michelle! Ohmigosh you will not believe what I'm seeing! A Seviper! Yeah! It is soooo cool! Like my adorable Nidoran!"

Seviper lets out a hiss at yet another intruder before it slithers up behind me to let me deal with her. Yeah, thanks traitor. I glance over to Seviper, watching it lower and move its head back and forth in anticipation of how this can go down.

"Let's just ... ignore her." Atticus decides as he tugs on my arm, pulling me away from the looming confrontation. Sneasel and Seviper travel a few paces ahead, looking back and watching the Picknicker cheerfully chasing after us. I turn around to follow Atticus but the girl zips in front of me with her eyes practically sparkling in excitement. Oh hell how old is this girl, like 12 years old.

"Ohmigosh, I have to battle it! Please have a battle with me!" She practically begs, seeming to have a sixth sense and knew that Seviper is mine from the start.

"Sorry but I'm not in the mood." I say as I brush her off and walk past her, glancing at my Seviper. It's annoying how much attention it is getting. Maybe I should just stick it back in its Pokeball but Seviper deserves a nice stretch too.

"Oh pretty please!"

"Jackie, let's just go." Atticus huffs while Mole glares at the annoying girl blocking their way through his googles.

"Another time, another time," I say, walking past her to follow Mole. I really don't want to fight right now I'm nowhere near that kind of mood. I'm just annoyed I lost my temper earlier with that one guy. I need to keep a better reign on things.

"Ugh!" She spits in aggravated disgust as she stomps her foot, "so annoying! This b**** won't let me battle her Seviper! So unfair~!" She pouts like a child, making me freeze in mid stride. Oh, oh hell no it's on now.

"Destroy her Nidoran." Mole nods as I turn towards the bratty kid.

"Fine. You want a battle so bad, bring it on. My Seviper will destroy both you and your weak Nidoran." I threaten as Mole and Atticus walk over to the side of the road to watch us battle.

"Oh goodie! Easy win for me~," she cheerfully cries as she fumbles around for her Pokeball. Tiny paws tugging at my pant leg catch my attention as Mole's Furret dashes up my clothes and settles on my shoulder, clearly preferring the front line view to the side of the street view.

"Bring it." I say as Seviper slithers in front of me, obviously sensing teh oncoming challenge with an eager thirst for victory. Furret stands up on my shoulder and puts on the cutest glare at the Picknicker, crossing it's paws and giving a sharp nod.

"Hold on Betty, I'll call you back after this battle," she quickly and excitedly says, putting her Pokegear away before calling out her Nidoran, "awesome! I was afraid you had a stick up your a**," she grins as Seviper glares at its prey, hissing at the Nidoran.

"Oh dear. She added fuel to the fire." Atticus says, probably seeing the fiery determination to squish this Picknicker bug into the ground flaring up from my shoulders.

"Do whatever you want, Seviper." I say, deciding to give it free reign.

Let's get this over with.

(TIME SKIPPETY SKIP!)

"You really made her cry." Atticus says as we continue down the path with Mole leading.

"Yup," I say. I feel a little bad but ... nope, not bad at all. The egg in the capsule slightly twitches as my head snaps down, intently staring at the slightly moving egg before it falls still. I'm dying to find out what's in this egg. It's moving more often so it has to be getting close.

"I don't really care what Jackie did. That obnoxious girl had it coming. It's rude to call people by swears." Mole says, siding with me.

"It's rude to call people anything other than their name really," I say, suddenly in a better mood with the thought of another baby on its way to me. Seviper travels by my side with Sneasel on the other, both of them staring at the egg with careful intensity. Oh they are just too cute getting protective over this egg like I am.

"That's the cave that my father and I are researching in. It's been ... pleasant traveling with you all but this is where we part." Mole smiles as Furret lays down on his one shoulder, staring at the cave with a cheerful smile on its furry face.

"Oh, yeah. Well good luck finding your dad," I say as we reach the entrance.

"Ah yes. The other crew and father wouldn't leave the cave without me." Mole explains as we all walk into the cavern. People dressed in similar brown trench coats walk around the with clipboards, writing things down while a few others were at a table, peering through microscopes. Oh, so they set up base towards the entrance of the cave. I would think most of the things untouched by people would be deeper in the cave but hey, I'm no archeologist.

"What are they all doing?" Atticus asks as I spy one of them lift a small cylinder of dirt in the air, eyeballing it before putting it into another tube and mixing some liquid in the soil sample.

"Researching about evolution stones and how they are made." Mole shrugs as if it was a common thing to think about.

"There are some here? Like what?" I ask, curious. Both Sneasel and Seviper rub against my legs as I walk, annoying me a little bit until I catch sight of their wide eyes cautiously taking in the people around them. Hm ... maybe it would be better to keep them in their Pokeballs. I lean down a little bit and rub their heads, encouraging them to keep their cool as I try to stand and maneuver myself between them and teh people in the cave. I wonder what is making them so uneasy? The test tubes and other medical stuff?

"There was a large sediment of Everstones here so we're researching about it." Mole answers before glancing around. "Hmmm ... I don't see father anywhere."

"My, look at the fangs on that Seviper," a worker says, leaning in a little to get a closer look at the long red deadly weapons fastened to Seviper's mouth. Seviper's slit eyes turn to the man and let out a deadly hiss, dangerously waving its tail back and forth. Whoa boy. I hop over Seviper's back and step in front of it, setting my hand on its snout to push its head down a little bit.

"Leave it be. This Seviper isn't really friendly with people." I warn, feeling the reverberations of Seviper's hissing through its skull. Sneasel lets out a faint growl itself, glaring at the man while standing behind my leg. Really now, they're both just acting ridiculous.

"They're quite impressive. Truly a diamond among rocks." The man compliments as Seviper makes a small warning lunge at him, causing him to jolt back as I shove on Seviper's head. "Oh dear, but I must remember not all Sevipers are nice. Hehe. I apologize."

"Excuse me, do you know where my father is?" Mole asks, diverting the man's attention.

"No I don't, sorry kid. I'm new here," he says as he evenly stares Mole in the eyes through his goggles.

"My apologies but your father has left for Azalea town to visit the Snowpoke well due to the sudden appearances of Water stones." Another worker says in passing before stopping, also taking notice of the Seviper before giving Mole his attention.

"Ugh, why did he leave without me? Fine, Azalea it is. Oh, but one more thing," Mole reluctantly leans over to whisper something into the man's ears before stepping back with the researcher nodding. "I trust that everyone will be fine until I come back with my father?"

"But of course!" The worker cheerfully smiles, slapping the other man who was interested in Seviper's fangs on the back, "come on now, you've had your break," he says, directing the man back to the wall they were excavating at the moment. Mole sighs before looking back at me and Atticus. Before he can say anything Furret leaps off of Mole's shoulder and trots over in my direction despite the anxious glares of both Seviper and Sneasel towards it. My gaze locks onto Mole's as I crouch down and let Furret leap onto my arm and dash up to my shoulder before nuzzling her head into my cheek with loving intent.

"That means I can hold her the entire time right?" I ask, softly scratching its chin before turning my head and giving Furret a small kiss. Furret leans back and licks its paws before scurrying under my chin and wrapping around my neck like a scarf.

"Whatever you want." Mole sighs, probably happy I'm taking up Furret's attention for the time being.

"Good," I cheerfully smile, looking down at my egg again. I really can't wait for it to hatch. After a few moments of staring it twitches again, immediately sucking up all of my attention in an instant, "it moved again," I announce, intently staring at the egg and expecting a Pokémon to come out.

"It might hatch today then. Best keep it warm," Atticus notes as Furret curls around the capsule holding the egg, offering its body heat as it snuggles against my chest at the same time. "That'll work. What a good Pokémon."

Furret purrs at the compliment as I cheerfully grin, eager to see what hatches from the egg. I can't wait to have another cutie in my possession. My eyes catch sight of Sneasel as it crouches down, getting ready to jump onto me. I hold perfectly still as Sneasel leaps onto my back, pushing its clawed feet off my belt and poking its head over my shoulder for a better look at the egg.

"Awe, it looks like Sneasel's excited too," I chuckle, nudging my head against Sneasel's side as it leans down to sniff the top of the capsule. It jolts back as Furret bravely pats its small paw against Sneasel's nose, hugging the capsule tighter with a huff. Sneasel's eyes narrow as it reaches for Furret with one of its large white claws, only to stop as I shoot it a small glare. "Off, Sneasel." I order. Sneasel huffs before dropping onto the ground alongside Seviper, both eyeing up the annoyance that is wrapped around the egg capsule.

"It would be good for Furret to share its body warmth since the cave to Azalea town can get a little cold. We should be going now." Mole says as he walks past us.

"You know the way out?" I ask, keeping a tighter grip on the egg as Wooper moves the bag with his constant swimming. I guess it's feeling a little left out but there's not much I can do about that. I only have so many arms to carry everything and I really, really want to see the egg hatch before my eyes.

"I do." Atticus chirps as Mole nods as well. I'm glad to be traveling with people who know where they are going.

"What are some stuff about Azalea town that I should be looking forward to?" I ask, looking to Atticus for an answer. As we get some distance between us and the crew Seviper ventures a little further, not crowding me so much as before.

" ... Slowpokes." He says.

"Slowpoke?" I repeat, thinking hard about what that was before pulling out the old fashioned Pokedex and flip through the screen to see what it is. My eyes glue to the screen as I search for what it looks like. If it's a decent Pokémon I might catch one since I missed my chance to catch a Gastly in Bellsprout Tower.

"It's pink and slow. Everyone in Azalea practically worships them and they laze around town. Well, used to." Atticus mumbles the last part, "they're friendly, I guess. But they sometimes chew on your pant leg."

I pay little attention to his explanation as I look up some of the entries for the pink Pokémon. Huh ... these things look duller and stupider than Wooper's evolved form, Quagsire.

"Slowpoke uses its tail to catch prey by dipping it in the water at the side of a river. However, this Pokémon often forgets what it's doing and often spends entire days just loafing at the water's edge ... oh this thing's IQ is definitely lower than Quagsire's." I mutter to myself as I slow down and take a few moments to read a little more into it. Another entry, "incredibly slow and dopey. It takes five seconds for it to feel pain when under attack ... well I guess that could be useful but I can already imagine the frustration." I say out loud before turning the dinosaur machine off and slip it into my bag. I look up, seeing nothing but empty caves all down the hall. Uh oh.

"Hey guys?" I call, listening for their answer as I trot down the cave at a faster pace. I didn't lose them, did I? They must not have noticed when I stopped. I take deep breaths, trying not to openly freak out as I run a little faster in an attempt to catch up. Where did they go? Sneasel and Seviper easily keep up, seeming to enjoy the brisk run before I come to a sudden stop before a fork in the cave. The breath sticks in my throat as I look either way, making a split second decision as I start down the path to the right. Hopefully this bigger part of the cave leads to the end.

The further down the cave I run the dimmer the lights become. Am I getting near the exit or what?

"Hey! Atticus! Mole! Can you hear me?" I call, slowing my hurried run as I look all around the cave. Where in the world could they have gone? I suck in a fast breath as I stumble over a loose rock, feeling both Furret and the egg capsule fly out of my grasp.

"Crap-!" I hiss under my breath as I stumble forward to grab the case, praying it's not cracked before Sneasel shoots out from under my leg. "Hey, Sneasel watch it-," I start before Seviper's heavy body slams into my side, throwing me off my feet. A blunt pain whacks against my head before everything falls black.

SNEASELS POV

Sneasel's long wait is over. He can get the egg, crack it open and finally savor the tasty and nutritious yolk in his mouth. The female human would forgive him. After all it is in a Sneasel's nature to eat eggs. A smirk etches across Sneasel's face as he takes a step forward.

Its eyes snap over towards the prominently loud hiss, spying Seviper crawling into view with eyes locked on the same egg. A fierce glaring contest begins the fued as Seviper lurches forward, aiming to swallow Sneasel whole. Sneasel leaps into the air, narrowly avoiding being devoured. Seviper lets out an aggravated hiss as Sneasel swings around the serpent's long neck, hooking it's claws under Seviper's jaws before biting into its skull.

A loud clinking makes their heads snap up, spying Furret dashing on top of the egg capsule and quickly rolling it further down the tunnel. Their jaws drop before Seviper shakes Sneasel off, dashing after the furry menace with Sneasel hot on its tail.

Furret continues to run, undeterred despite the bumps and divots that slightly knock Furret off her paws. Determined to keep the capsule away from the larger predators Furret picked up her pace, racing down the dark tunnels in the cave.

Sneasel hisses in frustration as it surges forward, never able to get ahead of Seviper. At this rate Seviper would be the one to reach the egg.

The case continues to roll and bang against the rocks, cracking the glass side as it continues to tumble down a suddenly steep path. Furret lets out a small cry as it runs as fast as it could, struggling to keep up with the speed of the tumbling capsule. Both Seviper and Sneasel gasp trying to stop in time but Seviper's momentum sends them both over the edge.

With a loud cry they all tumble into a messy pile with the Furret flopped on top of them both. Sneasel's eyes roll around in his head before its head pops up, spying the egg within the capsule. His eyes widen, noticing the lid had been jarred open. With greedy eyes it scrambles out from underneath the heavy Seviper and stumbling over it its prize with the broadest grin.

A paw steps in front of Sneasel, making it stop short and look up at the tall blue Pokemon. The Lucario kneels down, looking Sneasel in the eyes before tilting his head.

"Play is to children as hunting is to human ... then what are we, as Pokémon to masters?" It's deep voice reverberates through Sneasel's mind, making it jerk back at the human speech. Sneasel glares over the strange Pokémon, watching as the Banette picked up the egg and looked over it with a grin.

"Yes, I suppose it is unfair to impose on your hunt. However," it says as Banette hops over in front of Lucario with its eyes beginning to glow, "it is against master's wishes for this egg to be dispatched," Lucario says as Banette waves its paw over Sneasel's eyes. Sneasel wavers back and forth before dropping to the ground, falling prey to Banette's Hypnosis.


	14. Chapter 14

STRANGER'S POV

"And that is all of them?" I ask Lucario as I step out of the shadows, my eyes on the delicate egg within the capsule. I pray this egg isn't cracked in any way. I don't think I could bare seeing Jackie's heartbroken expression if she were to find the egg injured.

"Yes," Lucario's voice reverberates through my mind as I walk by him and gently scoop up the egg capsule. The crack in the glass makes me uneasy as I gingerly take out the item, looking over the rare and precious egg. It seems uninjured. A smile falls on my lips as I place the egg back into the capsule and gently rub Lucario's ear.

"Thank you, Lucario." I graciously thank, listening to his pleased hums at a job well done.

"It is my pleasure," he says as he kneels down and shovels the Seviper onto his shoulder while taking the Sneasel in his other paw. Banette cheekily grins as it plucks up the sleeping Furret from the ground and holds it close before trotting after us. Banette nuzzles her face into the Furret's inherently soft fur, clearly enjoying itself whereas Lucario is made to do the heavy lifting.

It is amazing at how ignorant mine fiancé is when it comes to her egg. She should know that a Sneasel's diet consists of mostly eggs stolen from nests. But then again, she is still learning, and I must not be too critical of her actions. She has every right to grow on her own without my help no matter how much I wish to offer it. Even now could be considered a rather awful offense.

"My, such a large bump making older brother's fiancé so unsightly." My youngest brother sighs as I spy him gently pick up the duel haired woman a ways off. I stay where I am in the shadows, curious as to mine younger brother's thoughts about the arranged marriage. He seemed the most displeased when he learned that my hand is promised to a woman he nor anyone else in my clan has personally met. And knowing his habit of speaking to himself alone perhaps I shall stay in the shadows for a few moments.

" ... why?" He breathes, slightly shifting the young woman in his arms as he stares at her. After a few moments of deliberation he kneels down, freeing up an arm as he reaches around his back to where he keeps his blades hidden. He chose so quickly for this measure? How awful.

"Speak kindly and tread lightly," I warn, stepping out of place. I would rather stop him now then let him face disgrace by the rest of our clan from what he was going to do. His shoulders visibly tense as he half turns, watching me step into view with Lucario and Banette carrying the extra loads.

"My apologies," he quickly says, picking her back up and taking extra care to not harm her.

"All is well. She may have a rather large lump on her cranium but she will manage. No serious harm done," I say, leaning over and softly brushing my finger tips over the bump. His fingers tighten on her shoulder, catching my attention as he moves her out of my reach.

"This marriage does not bother you?" He asks in a hard tone, seeming almost heartbroken at the thought of me abandoning our clan. I softly smile and reach forward, rubbing his head before giving him a hug. He stiffens up, clearly put off by the physical affection that I've grown to love.

"No. It is my duty to represent our clan and I am proud to do so." I say, hoping to soothe over some ruffled feathers. I realize he is bothered by this but there is not much I can do about the current situation.

"But this promise was made long ago between our elders. You have no say," He says, clearly disgruntled at my calm demeanor about the situation.

"That is true. However, you must remember that I am also competing against many, many other families. I cannot afford to sit back and allow another rival like Kidd to snatch away mine intended. After all, it is my honor to wed the granddaughter of the infamous Eiting. She saved our clan in rather dark times," I remind him, feeling uneasy about him carrying her out of the cave. However, I trust that he would not hurt me by injuring her on purpose. Not in my presence.

His gaze turns to the wall, stubbornly staying silent before vanishing. I let out a faint sigh and too vanish sight, quickly traveling down the long contours of the tunnels before reaching the bright end of the cave. Though they, her companions, will search for her in the cave a while they will eventually come to the entrance and see Jackie. From there they can care for her.

I watch the other brother gently press an icepack against Jackie's head as the youngest lays her down by the side of the road in a soft patch of grass. I walk over and pluck off her Pokeballs, returning Seviper and Sneasel to full health before placing them back in their capsules. She has some rather interesting choices as her Pokémon. It's amazing she has been able to rehabilitate ex Team Rocket Pokémon into her own. Though how long that will last it is up to the Pokémon and her to decide. With a soft click I return the capsules to their rightful place on her belt, making sure she is laying down with as little discomfort as possible.

"You two, go ahead and scout out the area. There may be more Team Rocket grunts hunting for them. I will stay here and ensure she is reunited with those she is traveling with." I order as the eldest among us. They both nod and vanish, off to perform their duties. With the two gone I let out a soft sigh of relief, glancing over to the young woman. It is true that I have had my doubts about the elder's decision. Only time can tell if this will truly be meant to be. My gaze softens as draw my gloved hand over her cheek. But why, I find myself asking, did Eiting want to send her on this journey knowing the messes and promises already tying Jackie down?

My lips press into a hard line as I lean against the tree out of sight from the mouth of the cave, listening for anyone approaching. I can only hope she is strong enough to handle herself on this journey. So many obstacles which she has no idea about ... and I will be with her every step of the way. Whether she knows it or not.

JACKIE'S POV

"Ugh ... ow my head ... ," I groan as I roll onto my side, feeling the soft grass tickling my arm. My eyes crack open, almost blinded by the sunlight trickling down through the leaves of the trees. I'm outside? But I thought I was inside the cave? I sit up and achingly rub my eyes feeling something tumble down my chest. Hm? I look down, seeing all sorts of little pebbles and twigs laying in my lap. What the? Why am I covered in sticks and rocks? I flinch slightly as a smooth cool surface rolls against my hand.

"Woopah~," Wooper cheerfully cries, wriggling its tail back and forth before swimming around at a faster pace. Huh ... did I find a way out and decide to take a nap? No, that's not like me at all. I feel in the cave ... and then woke up here. No, no I had to have walked out at one point. I suck in a fast breath, whipping around and yanking my bag open to see the egg safely nestled in its capsule. Oh thank goodness it's alright. I smile and pull the capsule out, setting it next to Wooper's ball before popping the top off and fishing Wooper out of the water.

"Come here," I say with a smile, balancing it on my palm.

"Woo~pah woopah~," it delightfully trills, eagerly kicking its feet in the air while laying on its back in my hand. I chuckle and gently rub its belly with my thumb as I glance at my belts, noticing both Sneasel and Seviper are both in their capsules fast asleep. How-

The rustling of bushes catches my attention as Furret leaps out with a small twig in its mouth. The moment it sees me sitting up its eyes become ecstatic, dropping the stick and dashing over to me with excited fervor.

"Whoa, what's up, Furret?" I ask, watching as it bounces around my shoulders and arches its back under my chin. It's acting like it was with Mole when we found him. After a moment I realize what is going on; Furret thought I was dead so it decided to bury me under some sticks and pebbles. I reach up and grab Furret, holding it in front of me while staring at the cheerfully smiling Pokémon. "You tried burying me alive, didn't you?" I huff, poking its nose and making Furret happily squirm around before leaping back onto my shoulder.

"Woopah~," Wooper cheerfully cries, hopping off my lap and began to run away. I lurch forward and pinch its tail, not letting it get too far before slowly dragging it back to me.

"You're not an Olympian, Wooper," I chuckle. Rather, Woopers are slow out of water so it's funny how it keeps wanting to run everywhere with its energy. I lift the Wooper into the air by its tail and hover it over the water filled Rattata ball. It's eyes grow wide with excitement and mouth broadens until it takes over its entire face.

"Woopah pah pah pah pah~!" Wooper cries, trying to get into the water with an eagerness I can hardly compare anything to. I smirk and dangle it over the water a bit, teasing it and watching it run towards the water and move as if it is already swimming in the cool water.

"Cute~," I chuckle, dropping it into the water. Wooper quickly darts around in the water savoring its sweet victory as I twist the top back on. A slight twinge in my head catches my attention as I rub my forehead, trying to dispel the headache coming on. Really? Now? I need to remember to drink more water so I don't get dehydrated like this.

"Jackie, there you are!" Atticus's voice cries. I look up, spying him jog out of the cave with his Turtwig and Gastly following close behind.

"How in the world did you manage to wander off in the cave? There's only two paths," Mole lightly scolds as he and Atticus swiftly trot over to me. Atticus's eyes grow wide as he drops to his knees, grabbing my head and pushing it down.

"Ouch-!" I hiss under my breath, trying to shove his wrists off but his hold remains strong. "That hurts!"

"Jackie, what happened to your head?" Atticus cries as he lets my head snap back up. I twitch and draw my fingers over the pulsing bump on my head. I knew I fell in the cave but I didn't realize how big of a bump I got.

"I fell in the cave. I didn't realize it was so big," I say, trying to shield the lump of aching flesh from Atticus's fingers.

"Come here, I'll patch you up," Atticus says as he reaches into his bag and pulls out a packet of disinfectant wipes and bandages.

"No, we can take care of it when we get to town," I rebuff. I just want to get to town. It shouldn't be much further from here. His fingers easily undermine my hand and toss it aside.

"No because I don't want the baby Pokémon to hatch and see its owner covered in blood." Atticus says, glancing over the egg that wiggled back and forth.

"It's bleeding?" I ask, reaching up and touching the cut on my head. I didn't notice it was bleeding. I sigh as I tilt my head towards him and let him dab the blood away before wrapping my head with bandages. The dull pain persists as I let out a sigh, a little annoyed that I will be walking into town looking like a mummy. But it's better than having blood gushing out of my head.

"Hrm ... thanks," I murmur, pulling my head back up and feeling a little woozy and light headed all of a sudden. Man that hit me like a truck.

"She'll need to rest when we get to Azalea town." Mole says pointing off to a different direction, "The exit is that way." I rub my eyes again and lean against the tree, taking a moment to get my mind back together. "Jackie, can you walk straight?" Mole asks, setting a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah yeah, I just feel a little off," I say as I rub my eyes, looking up at the tipsy world. " ... just lend me a shoulder," I say, setting a hand on Atticus's shoulder to help keep myself straight up. I can't believe how sudden and hard that hit me.

TIME SKIPPITY SKIP

ATTICUS'S POV

"Here Jackie, just lay down for a little bit," I say, helping Jackie lay down on the hotel bed. I'm glad Mole called ahead and scheduled a hotel room for them for the night. I doubt Jackie would have made it to Kurt's house in her state.

"Thanks," Jackie murmurs, closing her eyes without much of a fight. I reach over and scoop up the rag of ice wrapped in plastic, pressing it against the bump. The bump won't cause any damage since it wasn't so bad but it won't hurt to ice it a little bit.

Mole walks over and placed the egg container on the desk, watching Furret curl up against it.

"I am happy the egg is safe and sound. Judging from the crack in the glass she must have dropped it." Mole says as he sets the egg capsule on the desk and sits on the nearby couch. He unscrews the lid and takes out they egg to examine it himself, watching Furret cheerfully leap up and curl around the egg in a gentle manner.

"Nurse Joy said it was fine." I note, remembering the short visit to the Pokecenter before Jackie began wobbling on her feet. It looked like she was on the verge of passing out.

"True," Mole says, casting a slight glare down over Seviper and Sneasel who stare at the egg no matter where he moves it.

"But it should hatch soon, and we wouldn't need to worry about it being eaten by those two," I hopefully say as he sit across from Mole out the couch. I pull out my Pokeballs, staring at my three Pokemon; Growlithe, Turtwig and Gastly. That egg is so dark in color with that red. I glanced over a computer before but didn't see any egg to match it. "I wonder what Pokémon it'll be."

"I know," Mole says, examining the little egg, "or I can make a guess. It's going to be a dark type but I've never seen this kind of egg coloring before." He says as a soft thump sounds. We turn, spying Wooper rolling around in his ball a little slower than he usually does. "Looks like Wooper's hungry," Mole says, picking up the orb of water and taking out the packet for Woopers. Wooper's tail wiggled back and forth as Mole shook some of Wooper's food into the water.

"Woopah~," it cheerfully cries as it surfaces right before plunging under the water and swimming around with excitement. I chuckle as Wooper cutely swims in a never ending circle. I wonder where she caught that Wooper?

A small squabble catches my attention as I watch Furret hop on top of Wooper's ball and paw at the approaching Seviper and Sneasel. Furret lets out some meek but stern cries as the two larger Pokémon ignore it and approach still. Sneasel scoffs at the guard Poochyena and leaps onto the table with Wooper's bowl, looking into the entrance as Wooper swims around and around.

Sneasel slowly raises his paw, watching Wooper continue on before lightly pawing at the top of the water, as if trying to coax it closer to the surface to snatch up. Seviper put its head close to the bowl, its eye expanding in the reflection as Wooper continues around and around with the happiest smile on its face. Wooper pops out of the water, causing Sneasel to jump back in shock before the little guy dives back in, smiling widely.

"Well Wooper doesn't seem to mind them. They seem like fun playmates when it's not an egg in between them," I note as Mole hands me the egg in my lap. The thought of the two larger predators getting their fangs onto the egg sends a shiver down my spine as I hold the egg close. Seviper immediately looks at me, noticing the egg in my possession.

It lets out a hiss and slithers forward, laying its head on my lap with eyes locked onto the egg. I freeze, twisting away from it slightly to get some distance between those long piercing fangs and the delicate shell of the egg.

"G-g-geh... what do I do?" I ask aloud in a slight trembling voice. Mole shrugs before holding out a hand to tickle Furret, giving her some much needed attention. Seviper lets out a low threatening hiss as it eyes up the egg, scheming behind those slit eyes as to how to pry the egg from my arms.

"Nu-uh! You're not getting this egg!" I cry before Seviper hisses, bumping its head against Atticus's stomach a bit too hard in defiance. "Geh! Ow!"

**_(time skippity skap!)_**

"So this man is your uncle?" I ask as we head over to one of Atticus's friends house. The egg slightly twitches again, getting my hopes up as I intently stare at the egg and block out anything else not related to the egg. Hatch hatch hatch hatch hatch _hatch_! No matter how many times I telepathically command it to hatch it only slightly twitches in response. Ugh this wait is killing me! I want it to hatch _now_. I flinch as my head pulses with aching, dull pain. Ow ...

"Uh, yeah. The Pokeball maker Kurt is my Uncle." Atticus explains as we walk down the street. The further into town we walk the more I notice people of the town avoiding Atticus's gaze. Atticus freezes before taking in a shaky sigh. "Though, whatever Uncle Kurt does to me the second we meet him, don't ... stop him."

"Hm? Why?" I ask, looking his way with confusion.

"Well ... you know ... Team Rocket," Atticus mutters as he glances away, avoiding my judging eyes.

" ... and you were stupid enough to steal from your own town?" I ask in a flat voice, shocked at his stupidity but not very surprised at the same time. He doesn't seem like the sharpest knife in the box but he would be that stupid?

"No. I didn't steal anything, Jackie. It's more of the issue of foolishly joining them, but there was also an issue where Team Rocket came and invaded our town a while ago." Atticus explains as his footsteps visible get heavier. His back slouches slightly, almost as if he was unconsciously trying to Minimize himself into nothing.

"They did? What for?" I ask. What could have been here that would have captured Team Rockets interest in this small town?

"Our Slowpoke Well. According to Team Rocket, the tip of a Slowpoke's tail is considered quite a delicacy. So they wanted to chop off the tails to sell for a lot of money," Atticus reaches over and grips Growlithe's capsule, obviously frustrated with the situation.

"That's terrible! Doesn't it hurt the Slowpoke?" I say, hugging the egg capsule. They would come all the way here to this small town for some money? Now that's just desperate. My head twitches, feeling the pulsing pain reverberating through my head. Just ... don't think about it. Ugh.

"It doesn't really hurt the Slowpoke. And the tail grows back after a while but Mutti always said it was wrong since the Rocket grunts did it against the Pokémon's will." Atticus weakly smiles before plucking the ball from his belt and stares at Growlithe, "Mutti always said that our Pokémon have as much free will and rights that humans do."

I stay silent. Well, I suppose that's where we agree to disagree.

"Your Mother has quite a rare way of thinking." Mole speaks up as he strokes Furret's head with two gloved fingers. We continue to walk past stores with Atticus leading us to a traditional house with many trees behind it growing a strange looking fruit of many different colors.

"Ja. And we love her so much." Atticus honestly says as he looks up to the house and stops, clearly nervous about going in. I let Atticus soak it in for a moment, looking around and eyeing up the strange trees in the backyard. My head thumps hard, still aching from when I hit my head in the cave. Ow ... my eyes squeeze tight as I rub my head.

"What are all these trees?" I ask, pointing and trying to distract myself from the pulsing headache.

"Those are Apricorns. When they're ripe, you can pick them and turn them into special pokeballs." Atticus explains, "and uncle Kurt is the only one who can do it."

"Really? That's amazing," I say with little interest, gliding a hand over one of Grandma's Pokeballs with the other hand on my head. I wonder if Kurt can tell me what the Pokeballs are made out of.

"It is. But the process takes quite a while to make just a few." Atticus answers as he finally gathers the courage to approach the door. "And like I said, don't try to stop him."

"No problem." I say as Atticus gulps. He takes in a deep breath before opening the door and stepping inside. I move to go in but Mole holds an arm out across my collarbone.

"Hold on ... let's move over here," he suggests, holding my arm firm as he drags me off to the side.

"You really think it will be that explosive?" I sarcastically ask, putting a hand on his shoulder as I rub my head. The headache is getting worse.

"Atticus?!" A monstrously loud, gruff man's voice shouts.

"Absolutely." He says. Hard and heavy footsteps stomp on the ground before Atticus tumbled out of the door. Atticus rolls to his feet with wild eyes before an old man tackles him onto the ground, literally wrestling with the young man.

"How dare you come back here! I ought to throttle you!" He shouts with an enraged sneer, putting his hands around Atticus's neck. The green haired boy lets out a cry of pain, clutching his side before the old man begins to beat him with his hardened fists.

"You run off and join that good for nothing Team Rocket? Why I oughta! And you even show your face too!" The old man roars as Atticus shields himself from the rough abuse. Grunting, Atticus glared, green eyes becoming a bright and fiery amber. Oh please those punches are hardly anything.

"Yeah? Well you just stood there and let them take Ada away, you old b******! I tried something! And, and Mutti! What about Mutti? She's your sister, right!?" Atticus struggles against Kurt's grip on his collar, grasping at the old man's sturdy wrist, "you just stood there! So why raise your fist against me and complain that I joined Team Rocket? I want my sister back!"

"Then man up and take her rather than joining them!" He shouts, lifting Atticus right up over his head before hurling him across the yard, chasing after him with a long sturdy stick.

"Then you do it! You do something for once!" Atticus hotly argues back as he tumbles and quickly stands back on his shoulders, immediately catching the long stick Kurt had whipped at Atticus. This is just one terrible mess. And with Kurt's pride, the old man wouldn't show pity and buckle down to apologize for nothing. Atticus wouldn't apologize for anything else other than joining Team Rocket. His Uncle was right, only for that much.

"I like him," I stiffly smile as Wooper cries in agreement with the widest grin. The confrontation takes the concentration off of the migraine for only a few moments. I flinch, clutching my head but gather my mask before Mole looks over with a smile.

"The old man? Hm, I suppose. He has a lot of fiery energy." Mole replies as Furret climbs onto his hat and cheers for Atticus to endure it. My eyes roll over to Furret, seeing its image blur in and out for a moment. Uh oh that's not good. Am I ... passing out? My eyes squeeze shut before I force myself to stare at Furret, watching it cling to Mole's hat as he tips his head forward

"D-Definitly." I agree, watching as the old man and Atticus fall to the ground and become a wrestling match.

"You stupid old man!"

"Stupid kid!"

"They're both stupid," Mole grunts as Furret purrs, nuzzling into her owner's hat.

"Ngh-!" I start, hearing my breath stutter as I rub my head and try to dissipate the aching pain swirling around in my mind.

"Hey, hey you alright?" Mole says, catching my arm and holding firm.

"Head ... ," I murmur, rubbing my eyes

"Hey, why don't you-," he starts as a blindingly bright light sharpens the shadows of the entire field.

_BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM_

The deaf inducing explosion rocks the ground and harshly knocks me off my feet. A high pitched ringing blares inside my ears as the world blurs in and out. The two wrestling bodies on the ground freeze, suddenly shifting upright as their fuzzy outlines turn defined. Atticus and Kurt look towards the direction of the explosion with horror and recognition clearly written all over their faces.

"That was in the direction of the Slowpoke Well!" Kurt shouts, his voice warping in and out of pitch. Oooh I don't feel so good. Mole's strong hand grips my arm, slightly shaking me back into focus.

"Must have been those Rocket people." Mole says, grabbing my cheeks and making me look at him with my uncoordinated eyes, "oh you don't look good."

"Hey, Jackie, you alright?" Atticus asks. His voice and question churns around in my mind. Wait, what did he just say?

"Am I a what?" I ask a little too loudly, a persistently loud ringing making my ears ache.

"Are. You. Alright?" Atticus repeats louder. Mole and Atticus grab either arm, yanking my to my shaky feet.

"Am I a bite?" I repeat louder, making sure I heard right as the ringing in my ears more than likely severely misconstrue the words Atticus said. Atticus shakes his head as he looks back to the house, watching the old man stumble out with a too tight belt with his Pokémon on his overgrown waist.

"Uncle! What the hell are you doing?" Atticus cries, making sure I was steady against Mole as he dances back towards Kurt.

"The well needs me! Take care of your friends and your cousin!" Kurt sharply orders as he hurries off to the direction of the well.

"Hey, wait! Stupid old man you'll get yourself killed!" Atticus yells out after him before falling silent. My head really begins to spin as I stagger to the side, leaning my weight onto Mole's side. Oh no yup I'm going down.

"I can taste my thoughts," I slur, collapsing into Mole's arms with my vision blurring into a black mess.

ATTICUS'S POV

"Hey, don't-! Ugh!" I groan, watching the old man stagger out of sight. Well this is just great now that old loaf is going to go get himself killed.

"Jackie-!" Mole starts as something thumps against the ground. My head whips around spying Jackie slumping against Mole's side.

"Take her inside. I need to go get the old man before he kills himself." I growl, taking a step towards the old man. My fist clenches as I hesitate. I need to take care of my friend first. With a heavy roll of my eyes I turn and grab Jackie's free arm, hurrying Mole up into the house.

"Shouldn't we take her to the hospital?" Mole asks as I pull the both of them into the adjacent room with the single bed.

"Don't bother. It will be swamped with people injured from the blast and it will take forever to get her admitted. She'll be fine." I gruffly say, freezing as I hear some frightened sniveling.

"Maddie?" I call, hurrying over to the closet. I throw the doors back spying my cousin sitting on the ground in a huddled little ball. She looks up with tear filled eyes, holding her arms up and grabbing at the air in my D***, it's the weekend! I forgot that old fart would have Maddie. "Maddie, it's alright. Come here," I say, picking her up and holding her tight in my arms. She was pretty young when I left so she doesn't exactly remember what happened.

"W-What was that sound?" She cries, clinging tightly and hiding her face in my shoulder.

"It's fine, everything is going to be fine. Jackie is going to stay here and sleep, ok?" I say.

"You're leaving? Please don't leave again!" She cries, clinging tighter as she finds her tears renewed. At this rate Team Rocket is going to get away again.

"No, no Maddie," I gently say before turning to Mole, "go get an ice pack from the fridge," I order before gently prying Maddie off and sitting her down on the corner of the bed, "I'm going to come right back. Promise," I say, gently rubbing her back.

"P-P-Promise?" She sniffles, hiccupping as she wipes her eyes, her lips twisting in sadness and fright.

"Yes I promise and everything is going to be alright. I just need you to stay here and," I pause, turning and taking the ice pack Mole had to show Madddie, "I need you to hold this against the boo boo on Jackie's head, alright?" I say, moving her to the upper portion of the bed. She takes the ice pack and looks over to Jackie, hesitant.

" ... it's cold ... ," she softly complains, staring at the ice pack.

"It's supposed to be. Now Maddie, Maddie this is important. Hold that against the boo boo on her head until we get back, alright?" I say, watching as she quickly nods.

"O-Okay. But you have to come back! You promised!" She cries, looking like she is going to start crying again.

"Yes yes, I will be right back. Promise," I say with a smile, kissing her forehead before hopping back, "let's go, Mole."

(TIME SKIPPITY SKIP)

"Good hell ... ," I growl, mortified at the sight of the crater that was once the Slowpoke Well. Deep slopping walls of thick mud pool at the bottom of the crater, making it difficult to tell where is what. However, the entrance to the rest of the cave is completely visible through the debris. "Let's go," I growl as I jog around the outer edge, slowly inching closer before sliding down towards the center.

"But I don't see Kurt around? Do you think he got in somehow?" Mole says as he sneers in disgust, raising his legs high and trudging through the thigh high mud at the bottom of the pit with me.

"There," I say, pointing out a muddy old man lying on the edge of the wall, clearly in some pain. He must have thrown his back out again. Tch ... stupid old man. I duck under a fallen tree, trudging through the thick earth to his side.

"What the hell is wrong with you, old man?" I growl, glaring at the entrance as I hear some rustling around. There's someone in there.

"Ugh, my back-! Some no good, man flipping masked man threw me right off my feet before I could even get a Pokeball out-!" He wheezes, coughing hard as he clutches his chest. Someone managed to flip uncle Kurt? He's a fairly hard man to completely hurl through the air.

"Of course, just like last time, right?" I huff with a sour note as I check him over fast. He doesn't seem injured otherwise.

"This ain't a joke, Atticus! You either take me back to the house or go face Team Rocket like a real man!" Kurt scolds before wincing in pain. I roll my eyes, waving Mole to follow me deeper into the cave.

"A real man, huh? He isn't a real man," I angrily grumble under my breath as I head to the entrance.

"Just focus on Team Rocket." Mole encourages, clearly a little uneasy with my state of mind. I pull myself through the entrance, hearing a capsule release its Pokémon. I glance over my shoulder, spying a Machop standing beside the old man and pulling him out of the mud.

"You sure about leaving yourself short a Pokémon?" I say as we lock arms, yanking him out of the mud and into the entrance of the cave portion of the Slowpoke Well.

"Yeah," Mole says, glancing back at the entrance, "we'll be fine. It's more than likely just grunts in there," he reassures as we hop into the cave, looking around the closed quarters.

"Follow me," I step ahead of him and lead the way deeper into the cave. This cave is mostly a straight shot through and is pretty small. They'll probably be towards the back chopping off more Slowpoke tails. We venture deeper into the cave and it didn't take long to see a bright glowing light around a sharp bend. We freeze, listening intently to the rustling around and rocks clanging against one another. I cast Mole a sly glance, walking a few steps ahead of him as we step into the open.

A hunched over figure pilfers through some loose rocks, turning and twisting them in the light before tossing them into a large bag bulging with other stones. Rage surges through my veins as I glare at the figure, watching him pause before whipping his head around and spying us. A smooth black mask with a large red R covered his face with open strips for breathing and his eyes.

"How dare you Team Rocket come in and do such destruction! Does it even faze you in the slightest?!" I angrily accuse tightly clenching my fists as I slip out a Pokeball. The figure stands up, revealing an older man tied up and laid against the wall with a gag over his mouth.

"Father, are you alright?" Mole anxiously calls, casting the stranger a sharp and angry glance. The figure stares at them before throwing the bag over his shoulder. Without a word he walks past us, further igniting my fury. How dare he ignore me-!

"Hey, hey! What makes you think you can infiltrate this well, destroy the Pokémon's natural habitat, take everything you desire and just leave?!" Mole suddenly shouts as he turns to the figure that stops in his steps. Both of us stiffen up, on guard for anything he can put out. He doesn't seem like a normal grunt but he can't be an executive either.

They're probably an executive no has even heard or seen of. And this person could be much stronger than the usual grunt. But that's not going to stop us.

"Father, are you alright?" Mole asks as he hurries over to the tied man's side and loosens the bands.

"Fine, just fine ... ," he breathes, tossing his head back in exhaustion. "H-H-He made me tell him which stones were water stones here. He ... took them all," he heavily breathes, leaning against the wall to rest as Mole glares at the stranger.

"Hey, get back here!" I shout as I dash through the cave after him. The dark figure picks up the pace and soars out of the entrance, quickly trudging to the side and out of the mud. I leap into the thick goop with an angry sneer, quickening my pace to catch up with the fleeing man. This coward!

"Hey! Atticus! You're gonna let him leave?!" Kurt hollers at the top of the crater. I angrily grit my teeth and haul myself over the top of the crater, watching the masked man leap right over uncle Kurt and continue running.

"Shut up old man! You're annoying. Hey, mask guy! D***, this guy is as stubborn as _Jackie_!" I shout in exasperation, clambering after him. The masked man suddenly stops, visibly tensing up as his head whips back with clear interest in something I said.

"Hold on, hold on there. Jackie, _Jackie Penski_, is in that pathetic excuse of a town now, as we speak?" The man says, pointing an accusing finger towards town as he glares through the mask at us. "Good mother of f***, just my luck." He angrily groans, tapping a fist against his head before whipping out a Pokeball. "You just _had_ to give me more work to do," he says, "and I assume this woman is at that old man's place?" He states, turning to look at them before dropping the bag and pulling out two Pokeballs, "I can't let you run back and tell her what's going on." He tosses his Pokeball in the air, expelling a large Lucario with a sharp gaze. That's a powerful looking Pokémon alright.

"Gah!" I freeze as Mole pulls out a Pokeball, glaring at the masked man.

"Go, Yanmega!" He calls.

"Take them out, Lucario," the masked stranger orders as he turns and starts to walk away, "join me when you're done. I have a certain woman to take care of," he says, trotting back towards town as he leaves Lucario to deal with us.

‡

Oh ho ho~ I wonder just how bloody this confrontation is going to be. **5 REVIEWS** for the next chapter! :D


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